


New Student

by ZadZap



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Arnold/helga fic, F/M, Old Fanfic, hey arnold - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 07:15:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10432053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZadZap/pseuds/ZadZap
Summary: Having to move schools isn't something a person would like, but at least it helps if you have a cousin to show you around, Cassandra is new and and makes friends with the gang, but soon finds herself trying to put Arnold and Helga together. Summary sucks, but please read.





	1. Chapter 1

Cassandra looked in her book bag to see if she had everything for her first day. She was being transferred from P.S. 117 to P.S. 118 which was a little weird from what she heard. This wasn't in anyway disconcerting to her because there was a chance she could actually fit in. She put on her black and gray striped jacket and put the hood over her reddish blond hair. There was only one problem with this new transfer. Cassandra wouldn't get to see her best friend Timothy anymore, course he probably thought she was weird anyway.

Flinging her bag onto her shoulders she tried to sneak out the door before her mother saw her. It wasn't that her mother was bad to her it was just that the lady was a little weird. Cassandra's mom was a little goofy, especially in the mornings even if she had her coffee. "Oh Cassie darling…don't take the bus, I'll drive you sweetie." A sweet voice yelled from the kitchen. "To late!" She thought and threw her back pack on the sofa. "Mom, I thought you said your friend drove the bus. I distinctly remember you saying…" She was interrupted by a woman with brown curly hair walking into the room.

"Sweetie, stop it with your photographic memory…I know what I said."

"Please…you cant even remember where you left the keys five minutes ago mom."

"Oh, your right; have a good first day of school sweetie."

With a triumphant laugh Cassandra took her bag and went out the door. Still slightly nervous Cassandra grabbed a piece of grass and put it in between her thumbs and blew on it. Instantly a whistling noise came from it and there were a few head turns as she walked to the bus. She had only gotten a few words out of her cousin when she asked about the school. All he had only told her about the homeroom teacher Mr. Simmons who was a nice guy.

She stood in silence as she got to the bus stop and threw the piece of grass on the ground. She adjusted her jeans before sitting on the ground and waited as a few kids walked up. "I don't understand why you stick up for her." A boy with a big head of hair said to a football headed boy. Cassandra just sat there in silence as the two boys talked. "Gerald…" The football headed boy responded and then turned to Cassandra. "Hey, you new to P.S. 118?" He asked and the other kid looked in her direction seeming a little curious himself. "Yeah." Cassandra said loud enough for them to hear.

He was about to ask her something else but the bus had appeared just then. Checking her pockets for the fifty cents Cassandra would need to enter the bus and sit down. "Cass, how's your mom?" The man asked. Her eyes met his and she smiled remembering him from a week ago. "Hey Arthur." She said and then went to go sit down in the back next to a girl who looked of Japanese decent. "Hello, my name is Phoebe." The girl greeted and held her had out to her as if to shake her hand. "Names Cass." She said and moved her sleeve over her hand before shaking the other girls hand.

It wasn't that Cassandra was against the girl or anything it was just that she didn't like germs. Another reason she was so nervous about her first day at this school. She wished that Iggy had filled her in on everything. Speaking of Iggy she found that he was sitting in front of her talking to an asthmatic boy about something. "Igloo!" She sharply whispered and tapped him on the shoulder rather hard. This definitely cached his attention and he looked at her slightly annoyed about the sudden death poke. "Ow! What was that for?" He asked sounding rather annoyed but she didn't care.

"I want to know my who's and what's Iggs!" Cassandra said and motioned for the asthmatic boy to move out of the seat. She wanted to sit with the only person she knew right now. Iggy's annoyed look perished and he looked around the bus. "Ok…sorry Brainy." He said and the boy named Brainy moved to the back after saying hi in a slightly deep voice. "Ok what do you want to know?" He asked.

"First off, the football headed boy and the other one with the tube of hair."

"Arnold is the one with the strange head, he's pretty much a the piece keeper. The other one is Gerald, he's the myth teller of the city."

Iggy was about to continue with the others but they made it to school. He motioned for to exit the bus and waited for him to get off. "Mr. Simmons will introduce everyone to you in class." He said and then looked around the school grounds. "Go fig, bunny boy doesn't want to hang with me." She said and walked up the steps of P.S. 118 and looked back to him. He seemed to want to say something but left it alone instead.

Helga sat behind Arnold flicking some spit wads into his hair while he ignored her. This was the usual routine and normally he just waited till she was done doing that. Mr. Simmons entered the class and sat on his desk looking at his class while Iggy walked in with a girl. This caused many of the students to whisper and ask questions amongst themselves. "Thanks Iggy. Class we have a new student. Cass, please make her feel welcome." He said.

Mr. Simmons told her to take the empty seat next to Helga. She was hesitant but finally decided to make a move toward the seat. If Iggy was right this blond girl had a bad temper. Then again so did Cassandra and there was a way to handle her. Cassandra had as bad and attitude as this girl did only she hoped there wouldn't be any fighting soon. She removed her hood making her strawberry blond hair fall to her back. "Hi, the names Thaddeus Curly Gammelthorp." A kid with a bowl hair cut said holding out his hand to shake. "Cassandra…" She said putting the sleeve over her hand to shake his.

Soon the bell rang for lunch time and they all got up rather quickly. Thankfully Iggy and his asthmatic friend waited for her as she took out a small journal before leaving. "So am I allowed to sit with the cool posse or do I have to find another table?" She asked with a sarcastic tone. Looking at her cousins friend she was unsure of a few things. First of all this kid didn't seem to be cool but then she just knew her cousin wasn't all that judgmental of things like that. He just rolled his eyes and they walked off to the lunchroom together.

Stinky just sat at the lunch table eating his lemon pudding listening to Sid ramble on. He was more or less annoyed with the fact that his friend still accused him of being a vampire. It wasn't him the vampire accusation was on now though but the new girl. Her skin was pale and she covered her hand before shaking Curly's hand which was strange. Stinky had to admit that it was strange. "I think we should find out." Harold said taking the last bite of his lasagna. "Boy howdy…I agree." Sid agreed with this statement and then stared at Stinky to see what his reaction would be.

This conversation that was going on made Helga laugh because it was hilarious. Sure she was a table away but it was easy to hear what the boys were talking about. Earning a glare from Phoebe she finally stopped laughing and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "She is a little strange Pheebs." Helga said taking a bite out of the pudding her friend gave her. "So is Curly but we learn to live with him." Phoebe responded making Helga sigh.

Her head on the table she couldn't help but feel annoyed at the people. This kid named Eugene was getting on her nerves and she was about to yell at him in five minutes. She had never known anyone so talkative and accident prone in her life. He had dropped his tray like five times but the food stayed on it until his final trip at the table. His corn flipped onto her face and she didn't want anymore of Iggy's table at this point. "Is she ok?" Another voice asked. This person had just sat down and she looked in the corner of her eyes to see who it was. "Cass, this is Park." Iggy said when her head was up.

She said hi and then instantly looked over at Iggy to ask him something. "Hey, is this guy always falling?" She asked. Park looked from her to Iggy and wondered what was going on. It was obvious they were talking about Eugene. Iggy wasn't answering but he had obviously dealt with this girl before and he seemed annoyed. This was rare for his cool friend and didn't know what to make of his mood. "You need to calm down." He said.

Park motioned for Eugene, Brainy, and him to go over to Arnolds table as this went on. He didn't want to be a part of this conversation later and it was obvious the girl was fed up with something. "Hey guys, what's going on?" Gerald asked looking curiously over to Iggy. "Iggy is trying to calm his cousin down." Brainy said and then took a puff of his inhaler before sitting next to Arnold. "I moved everyone over here while this was going on, I'm not listening to this all lunch period." Park said and Eugene nodded. "I wonder how he knows her." Gerald said. "Cousins." Brainy replied.


	2. Chapter 2

After eating her lunch Cassandra just sat at the table watching everyone in the room. She always found that watching people from a distance helped to know them without talking. For one thing the girl named Helga wasn't always an angry person when she was with the Japanese girl. The boy who's hand she shook back in the class room was a little insane. 

He also seemed to be in love with the girl named Rhonda. Somehow it felt like she never left her old school at all. Sure these guys were new people but they were almost exactly the same. Well not exactly the same but Curly's behavior was intriguing.

So in conclusion she was going to definitely love it here even if it wasn't her old school. Cass was about to ask Iggy something when she saw a heavy set kid walk over with a frown. "Hey Iggy." He said and sat down next to him and taking his hat off to sit it on the table. This guy was the number two class bully and it was kind of hard to understand why Iggy was talking to him. "Hey. Oh Cass, this is Harold." He introduced her to him and she nodded. This place was definitely different from her school, there was no way to look around that. "Hi." She said and went back to her people watching.

The bell rang letting the kids know they could put their trays up and go out for recess. It wasn't her favorite time of day but she at least would probably get some alone time. All she needed was the company of her notebook and her creative imagination. This brought back the fact that she was in a new school and didn't have the company of her best friend. 

She could definitely use the company of her Chinese friend Shay Ling. "A new school would be a great experience Cassie, new friends Your cousin's there right?" Shay pointed out. confident voice aside Cass could tell Shay hated it as much as her.

Cass took a seat on the bench beside the building and watched the people play on the playground. She was about to write something in her little journal when she saw that Stinky was joining her. "Hey." He said taking a seat next to her as she moved her long hair out of her face. "Stinky, right?" She asked taking her journal and closing it so she could have a conversation. His name was highly unusual and she liked those kind of names. Stinky nodded and deciding not to cover her hand she shook his hand. 'Germ-ex!' her mind screamed after she let go of his hand. "You like lemon pudding?" He asked.

It took her a while to fully understand that it was serious question. Never had she been asked if she liked anything lemon in the first place. To tell the truth she was allergic to them. The first time she had tried anything lemon was indeed a lemon pudding. "I…I'm allergic." She said admitting her one weakness and hoping Stinky wouldn't ask. He just nodded and started another conversation. "What school did you come from again?" He asked as she took her jacket off since it was definitely warming up. "P.S. 117, it's a little different from this school." She said. 

"I think I walked past your house one day, that pumpkin was huge…the weather was strange that week." Cassandra said recalling the day her and Shay were walking toward the park. They were on their way when the pumpkin caught her friends eye thus leaving her to get Timothy herself. The curious nature of her friend was always a little annoying. "I reckon it was a little strange." He replied. 

She was about to open her journal back up when the boy with the football head appeared. 'What a strange head.' She thought and then grumbled to herself for noticing it, at least he didn't have a conjoined twin.

That thought really made her cringe even though she knew some twins like that. They were only attached at the hand and could easily be separated but they chose not to be. Not yet at least, maybe when hey were older they would think differently about it. Cassandra shook her head getting that thought out of her head so she could talk to him. "You must be Arnold, do you have any germ-ex?" She asked and scolded herself inwardly for asking. She did not want to seem like she thought everyone had dirty hands. She covered her mouth and blushed a deep red. "Never mind that question." She corrected.

'Talk about not thinking before you speak! Geez what the heck is wrong with my mouth today anyway? This was not how I pictured my first day at a new school at all.' She looked up at Arnold to see that he was slightly confused but nodded and said hi. Cassandra motioned for him to sit next to her so she didn't have to look up at him. "Lets start over! I'm Cass, your Arnold. Shake hands." She said and took his hand to shake it quickly. "Nice to meet you Cassandra." Arnold said trying not to laugh at how she introduce herself to him and said to shake hands.

Gerald sat on the top of the picnic table listening to Rhonda go on about her new shoes. She and Nadine were just going around talking to all the fourth graders to show them. He looked around catching the Asian girl on the monkey bars and stared dreamily at her. 'You have to wonder what Curly sees in this girl to go crazy over her all the time.' He thought looking back at the tall girl as she went on and on about something. "Excuse me Rhonda but I think I hear Arnold calling me." Gerald said and left the rich girl to talk to Nadine and Lila about her shoes. He spotted his friend talking to Cassandra.

"Hey Gerald." A voice to his right said catching his attention and he turned to it. Iggy was walking up to him along with Brainy who might of just gotten punched in the nose. Taking a seat on the swings Gerald waited for him to join him while he swung. "Your cousin always that moody?" Gerald asked referring to the incident at lunch. "Yeah, and I know were going to have a problem later." Iggy said pointing to Helga and made an exploding sound.

This caught the tall haired boy's attention and smacked his head with his right hand. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about that and he honestly didn't want to mess with her. "How do you deal with her?" Gerald couldn't help but ask that question. "She's ok once you get to know her." Iggy said watching Brainy go behind the dumpster as Helga was talking all girly like. Sighing Iggy stood up telling Gerald he would be back after he took Brainy to the nurses office. "What happened to him?" Cassandra asked walking away from Arnold as soon as she saw Brainy holding his nose in the air smiling.

Cassandra noticed this little fact and was about to ask Iggy what he was smiling about but he left. Another fact that presented her with the fact that she was in a new school and nothing made sense yet. "Excuse me Arnold, could you explain to me what just happened?" Cassandra asked walking back over to the Football headed boy who she was talking to previously about her old school. "That would be Helga." He said seeing her eyes light up. "Thank you and see you later…Oh, hold this real quick." Cassandra said handing him her journal and her jacket before heading into the direction of Helga Pataki.

"Excuse me, your Helga right?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

Cassandra put her hair up and balled up her fists and held them up as if to fight her. Leaning against the monkey bars Helga just started to laugh ignoring the attempt of being tough. "No one beats up my cousin or his friends." She said. Still laughing the Pataki girl just rolled her eyes and wondered where this girl got the idea to stand up to her. "Your kidding right?" Helga asked skeptically as Arnold walked up trying to stop the girls from fighting. 

"Guys maybe we can solve this another way, one that doesn't involve fists." Arnold said trying to stop the madness from happening. The two girls just stared at him and rolled their eyes in annoyance. There was a moment of silence but then Cassandra picked up her jacket. She put it on and put her sleeve over her hand before holding her hand out to Helga immediately. 

"A truce Pataki! For now…" She said waiting for the other girl to join in. Finally after moments of hesitation Helga G. Pataki held out her hand and shook Cassandra's covered hand. "Whatever floats your boat…whatever your name is." Helga said. "Cassandra Fletcher." Cassandra responded before leaving to go inside the school building. Recess was over now and it was time to get back into the class room where she had to listen to the teacher. Forgetting that her Journal was still in Arnolds hands. "That was close." Gerald's voice came from beside him as they walked in last.

Gerald's eyes focused on the journal in his friends hands and took it from him. "What's this?" He asked and then his eyes rested on the name that was on the journal. "Its Cassandra's, wonder what she writes." Gerald said mainly talking to himself but Arnold took the journal back. "I'm giving it back." He said and sighing Gerald took it back. "Remember when we found that pink book?" The tall haired boy asked his football head shaped friend. "Fine, we'll look at it on the bus if she's not sitting across from us." Arnold said and they went into the school.


	3. Chapter 3

The clock was slowly getting to three o' clock and Cassandra wished it would go faster. If time would just speed up she could run out to her locker and get her stuff. Get on the bus and sit next to Brainy and probably ask him why he was smiling after Helga punched him. She shook her head at this little thought knowing how dumb it was. Then again she could sit next to that nice boy named Curly. Cassandra felt her eyes dart over to the boy next to her and tap his shoulder. "Excuse me Thaddeus, can I sit next to you on the bus later?" She asked catching almost everyone's attention with the question.

Curly looked at her for a second and then nodded his head as if saying yes. For some reason he seemed like the only sane person here and she definitely needed his kind of sane. Looking away from Curly she saw that Rhonda was giving her this strange glance. Obviously Cassandra had struck another nerve and this time it wasn't Helga Pataki. Taking her hair down she just smiled to herself and she looked at her desk. She was about to open her journal but then noticed it was missing. She smacked her head with her right hand catching Phoebe's attention. "Are you ok Cassandra?" She asked.

The bell rang and she gave a slight nod before leaving the class for her locker. That journal held the key to everything she held dear each and every poem or drawing was of her friends. 'Not the time to panic Cass!' She thought to herself and then got her stuff and met up with Curly. "So Thaddeus, tell me about yourself." She said as they walked to the bus. "First of all you can call me Curly, second of all, I'm complicated." Was his response, She laughed.

"Ok, what is with this girl?" Rhonda said sitting at the front of the bus watching the back seat. "What do you mean Rhonda?" Nadine asked just looking in the mirror to mainly see what Peapod Kid was doing. Rolling her eyes the rich girl just folded her arms to her chest and gave a sigh. She should of known this would happen to her. Nadine was crushing on Peapod Kid. "I mean that Cassandra girl!" Rhonda complained.

Nadine should have known better then to ask her friend what she meant. She looked away from the mirror to Rhonda who was deep in thought at this point in the ride. "I mean she stood up to Helga, covered her hand before shaking Phoebe's hand and now…Curly!" A disgusted look came upon her face and an exasperated sigh came from Nadine as she ignored it. Something was definitely going on with this girl and she had to get to the bottom of it.

Helga just sighed an exasperated sigh as she listened to Cassandra and Curly talk. It had been from one giddy conversation to the next and there were always a few laughs. She sat up in her seat and saw that Iggy was sitting in front of her so she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Mr. Cool; Care to tell me what the deal with your cousin is?" Helga asked him as he gave her an annoyed look. "Something happened after I took Brainy to the nurse?" He asked. She nodded and moved her legs to where she didn't have to sit on the seat and face him while they were talking. "She's got guts." Helga replied.

Iggy just gave a slight nod and took a look out the window before continuing to talk. "Obviously, could you guys try to get along? I know its to much to ask of you but please try." Iggy pleaded. "Alright, but if she gets on my bad side things aren't going to end well." She said and they shook hands before she went back to sitting next to Phoebe. She sat back up and gave him one last look before sitting back. "And that's the Pataki promise." Helga said before sitting back down. She earned a stare from Phoebe and then her friend just smiled. Phoebe loved it when her friend put some effort on friendship.

Cassandra got off the bus and as Gerald and Arnold got off the bus she spotted Shay. She instantly ran over to her and tapped her on the shoulder as she was about to head in her house. "Cass! How was your first day?" Shay asked adjusting her glasses. Sighing Cassandra took a seat on the steps and waited for the oriental girl to join her before continuing.

"It was eventful, made at least three new friends today." She said. "Lost my journal at recess so I'm going to have to search around. Then again we could see if Darnell could see it. See if his friend Tall Tale knows anything about it." Cassandra said.

Speaking of Darnell he was walking down the sidewalk with his deadlocks hitting forehead. His red and blue jacket tied around his waist showing his shirt that had a blue turtle on it. "Hey, it was a rather peaceful day without you bothering everyone at school." He said before taking his big dark blue sunglasses off to reveal his brownish green eyes. Cassandra rolled her eyes and waited for him to get closer before talking to him. "Listen, I need to ask you for a favor." She said seeing Darnell's eyes instantly go wide. "You still owe me from last time Cassandra Fletcher." He said sounding amused.

Shay just shook her head and went to stand next to them as this whole thing went on. Cassandra noticed them both blush as her friend walked up to join them in their talk. It was hard to tell if Darnell was blushing due to how dark his skin was but she thought it went darker. Rolling her eyes she looked away for about a few minutes and then back. "I'll give you fifty cents and buy you an ice cram at Slausen's." She said taking out her wallet. This whole thing with her friend liking Darnell was starting to grate on her nerves. "Also! You guys would make a cute couple if I do say so." She sounded board.

"Alright! What can Fuzzy Slippers do for you today?"

"Find my journal…you know, the one with the red skull on it."

"I should have known…"

Gerald sat in Arnold's room looking at the journal's cover as he waited for Arnold to return. He thought about taking a quick peek in the thing but he decided to wait for his friend to enter. There was knock at the door and Gerald yelled for whoever it was to come in. Arnold's grandpa walked in with a plate of cookies and sat it on the table next to the notebook.

"What's this?" He asked. "A notebook we found, were just trying to find out who owns it and return it to them." Gerald half lied. Grandpa nodded and left the room with a slight laugh as Arnold walked in with two glasses of lemonade. They stared at the notebook for a little bit and then Gerald opened to the first page. It was written in cursive which was rare for some fourth graders and sometimes hard to read.

Arnold was a little uncertain about reading the journal now that he thought about it. He knew reading it was an invasion of privacy especially the pink one with poems about him. "Gerald, I've decided to leave it alone." Arnold said taking a cookie from the plate. Rolling his eyes Gerald just put the thing in front of him since he knew curiosity would get the better of him.

"Can I just say one thing Arnold?"

"Go ahead…"

"Aren't you the lease bit curious?"

"Maybe…just a little."

"There we go then…" Gerald said opening the journal to the middle pages. Arnold just stared at it for a little bit and then picked it up. Still looking from the notebook to his friend he was still unsure. At the same time he was still a little curious and couldn't help it.

Today was he day that Mr. Roberts thought it would be awesome to share what we thought of each other. Honestly the guy doesn't know that some thoughts ware way private. I held my tongue and lied about what I thought of Timothy. If I had revealed that I liked him a lot and he was pretty much my crush since last year I don't know how he would react. I've had to call on Darnell many a time to help keep it hidden. So all I did say was how much I appreciated Shay. Her friendship is the only thing that really matters to me anyway.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Watched the news the other day and this Sheck guy was on. The neighborhood is going down and it may be hard to move. Dad decided to put his foot down. He was totally ticked and thought about giving that guy a piece of his mind. We were about to give in when the news came on yesterday that this Arnold kid found some document. This means that Hillwood is a historic landmark. And for something as ridiculous as a tomato war which made no sense. Who cares now its time to celebrate by going over to grandmas for some party.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Mom decided that it was time for me to stop going to P.S. 117 for some reason. Next week I'm going to end up going to the same school as my cousin Iggy. You know the one who is on the opposite side of the school chart and has lots of friends. I'm not all that excited about it because it would mean being away form all my friends. I've only met one of Iggy's friends and that was this boy named Richard. He seemed rather smart.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Today is my first day of school at P.S. 118 and I'm dreading it a little. I'm sitting here at the bus stop mainly waiting for Arthur's bus. He's an old friend of my mother's. I believe she mentioned that they had dated a long time ago. It was before she met my father and married him eventually having me delivered from the stork. That's what she says anyway but I'm above the stupid stork story. I may be just nine but I'm brighter than most. I just noticed two boys walking to the bus stop and now I wonder if these two are friends with my cousin.

Ok I just realized that my new teacher is Mr. Simmons is like my last teacher. I'm only mildly surprise but Iggy did mention that he was a cool teachet at times. Anyway its lunch time and I got really mad at this Eugene kid for being accident prone. I'll have to watch my temper for a while till I get used to everyone here. He had interrupted me listening to this boy named Curly lamenting to some girl. She obviously likes him but doesn't show it. I cant tell I'm going to have some fun at this school. He seems to be really interesting I'm going to sit with him on the bus.

"She likes Curly…she thinks he's interesting?" Gerald asked sounding mildly disgusted as he closed the book. It was after all the last entry beside a little drawing of a cat head. Arnold just sighed definitely knowing this wasn't the pink book author. "That was a waste, all we learned was that she has a crush on some kid. Beside the fact that she is friends with Curly." Gerald went on merely flabbergasted at the whole ordeal. Arnold just sighed and looked at the clock to see what time it is. "Looks like we should get down the Gerald Field." He said. "How time flies." Gerald replied grabbing his bat.


	4. Chapter 4

After finishing her chores Cassandra decided to take a walk to the park. She noticed the kids from her class were getting ready for baseball. Her eyes fell on her cousin as he walked toward it. Cassandra put her hood up as if it would make her invisible but it didn't work. Iggy had spotted her and called her name as soon as he got closer to the vacant lot. Her hood down she walked over to them. She had never played baseball but she at least knew what she had to do. Watching one game with her father was enough to get it all stuck. This was one of the many times her photographic memory came in handy.

"We don't need another player." Helga said taking her mask off looking rather annoyed. She was about to say something else but Iggy gave her a look and the earlier conversation came to mind. She normally never listened to the cool kid but he was in charge right now. Helga promised him she wouldn't get into another 'almost' fight like earlier today. "She better be good. Pink Boy, switch places with Gerald!" Helga yelled and without so much as a little complain he did what she said. Gerald was good at throwing the ball and if Cassandra was going to join she needed to hit his hard throws.

Cassandra stepped up to the plate with at bat that Arnold let her use and got ready. She watched as he threw the ball and she hit it as soon as it got the least bit close. The ball was totally out of the field and she gave Helga a knowing look before clearing her throat. There was this very annoyed look that she gave and it made Cassandra want to laugh. "Two more tries. Football Head, go get the ball." Helga spat as Gerald gave her an annoyed sigh. "I think she's proven herself Helga." Gerald said folding his arms. "Come on Helga, she could help us win against the fifth graders." Iggy chimed in suddenly.

This caught the girls attention rather quick and she began to wonder which ones. She was good friends with most of the fifth graders at her old school and they helped her out. Then it hit her, she remembered Iggy saying something once about a tough guy named Wolfgang. She met him a week ago and was bothering her and her friends at Slausen's. He ticked her off and she punched him square in the eye. Her sudden laughter caught everyone's attention and she settled down. "Sorry, so who are these fifth graders?" She asked. "Remember when I told you about Wolfgang, Cass?" Iggy asked with a sigh.

There it was again, that laughter that everyone really didn't understand what it was about. Helga just gave her a glare that was between Annoyance and amusement. Eyebrows raised Gerald gave Arnold a confused look. Obviously there was nothing in here little journal about this. They didn't seem to get what was going on right now. "Mmmm, mmm, mmm, that girl is a insane." Gerald said. "Sorry, its just…some friends and I ran into him like a couple of days ago. He kept poking fun at my best friend Shay." Cassandra said laughing. "I punched him in the eye." She finished taking a deep breath.

Everyone just stared at her like she was a little strange except for Curly who giggled. She finally heard a sigh come from Iggy and he smacked his head with his right hand. Obviously she had been the first fourth grader to ever do this one thing which was even funnier. Another thing was for certain and it was that she was embarrassing her cousin. "Geez you guys are so weird. Hey Curly, want to go to Slausen's for some ice cream?" She asked totally getting Rhonda's attention. "Excuse me, but I'm beginning to question your sanity." Rhonda said sounding rather annoyed at that very moment.

Cassandra gave the rich girl a questioning look and walked over next to her. "I'm questioning yours, I mean Curly obviously likes you." Cassandra put her hands behind her back. She was about to make a point and really wanted to be taken seriously. Giving her the mildly insane boy a look her eyes shifted between him and Rhonda then. "You treat him like he's last years fashion line or something and that makes me mad." Cass said going back to staring at her. "If there's one thing I've learned its never judge someone. Get to know them first and so far I don't like you and your attitude." She said.

Still giving Rhonda a ticked off look she then stared around the vacant lot at everyone. She realized that Arnold was ready to do something incase her and the other girl got in a fight. "I dare you to spend an entire day with Curly tomorrow, to get to know him better." Cassandra said hearing a few gasps from some of the kids on the field right at that moment. Rhonda's face was going red with embarrassment and looked away form her. "Come on, I need some ice cream." Cassandra said looking at Curly who wasn't smiling then. Obviously he wasn't used to someone sticking up for him or anything.

Curly just stood there not doing anything and she was beginning to get a little worried. She waved her hand in front of his face and looked for any kind of a reaction. "I think it's a good idea, Princess needs to do something like this. That is so boss." Cass heard Helga say and her eyes traveled over to where the voice came from. To be perfectly honest she was mildly surprised that she got this reaction. "Same with you and Brainy." Cassandra said and left the field. "Cass, I don't think Brainy will be safe hanging out with Helga all day." She heard Iggy yell as she left to go to the park for her friends.

"If she hurts him I'll punch her in the face!" Cassandra said with a smile and disappeared.

As soon as Cassandra left Rhonda threw up her hands in utter annoyance. "Iggy! Your going to have to do something about your cousin soon!" Rhonda yelled with extreme annoyance. While this was going on Helga just had a very ticked off expression on her face. A couple of the kids just laughed as the rich girl went on and on about how wrong and disgusting this was. "Fuzzy Slippers must have something on this girl." Gerald said picking up his bat and waited for Arnold, then back to the boarding house. "I do like how she handled the whole situation except the last part." Arnold remarked as they left.

"Did you want to stay for dinner?"

"What is it this week?"

Arnold was about to respond but then he ran into someone when he went to the corner. "Sorry Tommy; Helga." The two said before looking at each other while rubbing their heads. Eyes wide after realizing it wasn't the person neither expected they stood up rather quickly. "Oh, hey Arnold, I just remembered that I gave my journal to you at school." She said shyly and Gerald snapped his fingers. "Not to worry, its at Arnold's house." Gerald said leaning on his bat amused. The sight before him was like an old film playing except with a different girl in the picture for once.

"As long as you didn't read it I wont have to kill you guys." Cassandra said with a serious face making Gerald and Arnold gulp in unison. She started to laugh and point at them as they began to walk. Usually this joke never got a seriously scared look but this was funny. "That was a joke, you guys are so funny I swear." She said and then went wide eyed for a few seconds. "You didn't did you? Ugh…I should have erased some stuff." She continued and then started to walk and then stopped when she didn't see Gerald and Arnold beside her. "Hey, Arnold. I have no idea where you live." Cassandra said.

A few minutes later they reached the boarding house and at that moment Arnold's grand father popped his head out. "Hey Shortman." He said as a group of animals came towards the door rapidly. "IS THAT A PIG? IT IS! OhmyGOSH! Don't freak out Cassie…its just a…PIG…IT'S A PIG!" Cassandra said squealing that last part. As a germaphobe she found that pigs were always muddy and mud was not her friend. Visiting her cousin Kendra was as usually no picnic since she lived in the country. She stood behind Gerald who seemed a little freaked. Never had he dealt with someone as strange as her.

Dancing around like she was about to pee her pants she dodged the animals. When the pig disappeared she acted as if nothing had ever happened and gave them a smile. Arnold's grandpa started laughing as they went in and took the bat from Gerald. "Alright boys, I want my journal." She said as they went through the hallway as voices came from behind a door. "But Suzie…" Oscar said opening the door suddenly. "Hello Arnold, Arnold's friend Gerald." Oscar said. "Hey! You're the guy who delivers the newspaper to my door! We've had some interesting conversations." Cassandra said smiling.

Gerald grabbed her arm and pulled her to the attic stairs as Arnold opened the door. "I'm not going up there. Attics are dusty." She said but she could tell he wasn't having it. Finally she gave in and followed him in and was amazed by the big window that was Arnold's ceiling. "Now this is an attic, and one I can definitely live in." She said and spotted her journal on the desk. She took it and spotted another journal on the shelf that was pink. Now she was genuinely curious about this one especially since it was pink and boys did not like pink. "Arnold, I'm a little curious as to the pink journal." She pointed.

"We don't know who that one belongs to." Arnold said as she took it off the shelf and flipped through the pages. She wondered who would write a whole bunch of mushy stuff. They watched as a small smile appeared on her face. "She is bolder then you Arnold, really bold and strange." Gerald said taking a seat on the football headed boys bed. Cassandra closed the book making a thumping sound. "I'm not that strange Gerald, just different. Anyway I have to meet Fuzzy because I owe him an ice cream and fifty cents." She said putting the journal back on the shelf still holding her own.

At the mention of Fuzzy Slippers the boy with the tall hair shot up rather quickly. This caught Cassandra's attention but she just shook her head like it meant nothing. "What?" She asked opening up her journal to the last page that was written on. "You know Fuzzy Slippers?" Gerald asked shooting out of the bed suddenly which scared both her and Arnold. "Yes, and I have to meet him before he decides to turn in for the rest of the day." Cassandra said and then went wide eyed. Cassandra started pointing at him laughing and Arnold didn't seem to understand. "YOUR TALL TALE!" She said.

The three kids were walking down the street on their way to Darnell's house with fifty cents. Cassandra was mainly talking about the entries in her skull journal and stuff. "So anyway my cousin Catlin comes to visit for three weeks and apparently she likes him, and vise versa." She said and took a deep and very annoyed breath before turning the corner. "And where does this Tommy come into the picture?" Gerald asked seemingly getting into what Cass was talking about. "He's a bully…but I believe he has a sweet side." She said and stopped when they got to a stoop with flower pots on the bottom steps.

She rang the doorbell and waited for a few minutes till an old lady came to the door. "Well, hello Tabitha!" The old lady said and her eyes rested on the other two with her. "Hey Vivian, is Darnell home?" Cassandra asked and the old woman nodded. "He's talking to Thomas right now but I'm sure he'll talk to you if you just wait in the living room." Darnell's grandmother said letting them in the house to wait. Cassandra stopped them at the living room.

Darnell had his phone on speaker because he honestly hated holding it while talking. "Are you sure you didn't stumble upon it?" He asked finally taking a seat on the bed. He had a couple of posters on his walls that showed he liked the Muppets and E.T. "No, I would have told you if a found Cassandra's journal and I might of read a few pages." The voice admitted. Of course, this was Tommy he was talking to and the kid just liked her, liked her.

"Tommy…"

"Why is she even still talking to you anyway? She's going to a different school."

"Yeah well Shay and I are her only connections."

"I wish I could tell her how I really feel Darnell."

"Same here, Cass is a nice girl unless you make her mad."

"I seem to do that a lot…course I always pick on her."

He was about to respond when there was a knock at his bedroom door and it opened. Darnell's grandmother popped her head in to see her son was still on the phone. "Your friend Tabitha is here." She said and left the room he guessed to make some dinner. "Pixie Stick." Darnell said and instantly heard the click that meant Tommy hung up. He put the phone on the charger before leaving his room. Pixy Stick was the code word for Cassandra they had come up with. Sighing he made his way through the hallway to see that Cassandra was with two other people. "Sorry to bother you Darnell." She said.

"Tall Tale." He said shaking Gerald's hand and then looking at Cassandra for an explanation. "Fuzzy Slippers." Gerald replied. "They found my little journal." She said and put her hand in her pocket in search for two quarters. Cassandra handed him the fifty cents and folded her arms as she gave the two kids annoyed stares. "I do wish you would have told me that Tall Tale went to school at P.S. 118." She said taking a seat on the couch. "What about ice cream at Slausen's, or are you canceling?" Darnell's tone sounded amused. "No, your going with Shay, I wasn't lying before." She said smiling.

When Cassandra got home she went to the kitchen to see that her sister was at the table. Her sister had long black hair and she was wearing a black short sleeve shirt and gray shorts. "Hey Hanna." Cassandra said before going to the fridge to get a Yahoo Soda. "Have a good first day?" Her sister said writing something down on a piece of paper that was homework. "Made some new friends, Iggy's friends mainly and this kid named Curly." Cassandra said and sat down next to her sister. "How was high school and all your friends?" Cassandra asked. "Jamie-O says to tell you hi." Hanna said.

"So, where's mom and dad at?" Cassandra asked. "They are bringing home food from Hotdog King." Hanna said and went to the phone as if to call friends. "Oh, Shay called and then a few hours after that Iggy called." Hanna continued before putting the phone in front of her sister. "What did Iggy want to talk to me about anyway?" She asked. "Something about a baseball game after school tomorrow." Hanna said as the front door opened.

"Hey mom, dad." Cassandra said. "Hey Cassie, how was your first day at P.S. 118?" Her dad asked. "Iggy helped me out a little." Cassandra said. "Oh honey, your home, what took you so long?" Her mom asked. "I was playing baseball with Iggy's friend." Cassandra responded taking the bag of food from her dad and put it on the table. Her sister got out the plates and they sat at the table to eat their food and talk about their day.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sisterly bonding? We're bonded, we don't need to bond." Cassandra said slightly laughing as she walked to the bus stop. Hanna was walking with her even though she had a car. "I'm going to ignore that and keep walking you to the bus stop." Was all her sister said adjusting her black shirt with a skull on the back of it and scratching off syrup stain. Cassandra sighed as she spotted Gerald and Arnold standing next to the sign. "You're just coming to embarrass me." She said. "Well, its not going to work, I'm good at that game." Cassandra said. "My sister sleeps with stuffed animals." She continued.

Rolling her eyes Hanna sat down on the sidewalk with a look of sadness on her face. Cassandra instantly knew what was coming next and walked a little faster to the bus stop. "Hey Gerald, Arnold." She said and tried to ignore the annoying fake crying of her sister. "I am but an annoying spider you want to smash on the wall as I make my web of love!" Hanna said making her sister's face go red. Gerald just gave her a strange look and then his eyes set on Cassandra. "May I ask a question?" He asked as Arnold's attention was caught. "My sister, we're bonding and she is late for school!" Cassandra yelled.

As the waling stopped she figured that Hanna was on her way back home for her car. "I know you, your Jamie's brother." Hanna said hearing a very annoyed sigh come from her sister. "So, your Cassandra's sister? She never mentioned she had one." Arnold chimed in all the sudden. Her strawberry blond hair going over her face as she ignored everyone. She knew what her sister was going to say after that little outburst. "You didn't tell your little boyfriends about me?" Hanna asked looking at her little sister. "Man she's as bad as Jamie-O when it comes to being embarrassing." Gerald chimed in.

Hanna sat down and looked at the clouds before sitting up straight and closing her eyes. "Cass, I'm picking you up later so don't ride the bus." She says opening one eye. "I'm playing baseball later against the fifth graders." Cassandra said looking to Gerald for help. "Yeah, she's pretty good at hitting the ball." Gerald said and then an audible sigh came. Hanna was obviously annoyed at this news but Cassandra really didn't care. "Alright." Hanna said still sitting with her eyes closed. The bus was just down the road and Cass hoped her sister had given up. Before she could say bye Hanna gave her a hug.

Cassandra grabbed her sister's journal from her backpack and opened it up and closed it. Sure her sister had the upper hand but still Cassandra knew that her sister wouldn't like this. "Dear journal, obviously Greg doesn't understand that I think he's…" Hanna grabbed the journal. As soon as the bus pulled up she got on the bus and waved at her older sister. She looked around to see where she could possibly sit. Curly was sitting with Rhonda and Brainy wasn't sitting with Iggy. Smiling she went to the back and sat next to Iggy. Every once in a while he would look over to see if Brainy wasn't killed.

Later at recess Cassandra saw Helga go behind the dumpsters and she followed suit. She was once in for all going to figure out what lies beneath Helga Pataki's exterior. Taking shelter behind one of the trashcans she heard a Brainy's wheezing coming from the trashcan. Knocking softly she apparently got the asthmatic boy to come out quietly. There was a panicked look on his face and she didn't ask. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she heard it. The words coming out of Helga's mouth were those of love and when she spoke Arnold's name she stopped and looked behind her back.

As if on cue Brainy popped up and there was the sound of a punch to the nose. Covering her mouth Cassandra wasn't sure of what to do with this info and due to this evidence. Helga was sure to kill her or something remotely close for figuring this much out. A smile came to her face and she stepped over the asthmatic boy before leaning on the trashcans. "Wow that was some speech Pataki; I mean I never would have figured." Cassandra said getting her attention. A panicked look surfaced on her face making Cassandra laugh a little. This was pure gold and there was no way she was going to waist it.

Soon the panicked look left Helga's face and her scowl returned and she took a few steps closer. The smile on Cassandra's face never faltered expecting to trip over Brainy. Instead he took his place right in front up Helga and that's when the strawberry blond took off. Running and laughing at the same time and of course she couldn't help it really. Looking behind her turned out to be a big mistake because she ended up tripping. "I'm ok." The voice said and she instantly sat up. She was halfway expecting this but it honestly didn't matter. "Hey Eugene, sorry about yesterday." She said helping him up.

Eugene dusted himself off and gave Cassandra one of his award winning happy smiles. "Your fine Cassie." He said as she looked back behind her to see that Helga was coming. She began running again and stood next to Gerald who was busy talking to Iggy. Out of breath she sat on the picnic table and started laughing but couldn't stop if she tried. Cassandra was about to say something when she found that her enemy was close. "I hate to laugh and run but running is good exercise." She said and started screaming. Jumping off the picnic table she got a little farther and ran away from Helga.

As this was going on Phoebe walked over to a very out of breath Brainy and asked him about it. She knew that he knew about Helga's long kept secret and he would tell her what was going on. Walking over she saw that he had worried look on his face as he watched the chase go on. "Excuse me Brainy but I was wondering if you knew what was going on with Helga and Cassandra." Phoebe asked as his eyes went from the two running girls to Phoebe then pointed to Arnold. He then punched himself in the face catching the Japanese girl by surprise as he sat up as she sat next to him trying to think.

Cassandra stopped running and crossed her arms as she gave Helga a smug look as she ran closer. She caught Iggy coming a bit closer and she put her hand out as if to say stop. "Helga, meet me at the side of the building, its obvious we need to clear up a few things." The strawberry blond said walking to the other side of the building looking side to side. She spotted brainy and grabbed him by the shirt sleeve and pulled him with her. "Ok, Brainy I need you to watch out." Cassandra said and then looked over at Helga. "I knew there was something that was beyond your rough exterior Pataki." She said.

"Oh don't worry; I'm not going to tell."

"What are you up to Blondie?"

"I'm not up to anything, obviously you like Arnold."

"I…"

"Does he know? Dos anyone else know besides Brainy?"

"Cassandra…I told him once but…"

"When was this and why aren't you guys together?"

"Will you shut up? It was the day he saved the neighborhood…I helped him out under the name Deep Voice but he found me out. I confessed my deepest love for him but an hour later when the opportunity arose I it was the heat of the moment."

Brainy leaned against the building before taking a puff of his inhaler and sitting on the ground. The words that Helga just said sank in and kind of made her annoyed at the football headed kid. How could he ignore her feelings like she didn't even reveal it at all? Also she could have sworn she heard the word love which was way strong for a kid to say about someone. "That's a strong word Helga, are you sure you don't mean like-like because that would be a better word." Cassandra said unsure of what else to say at this point in the conversation. "DOI!" Helga said crossing her arms in pure annoyance.

Taking a deep breath Cassandra looked from Brainy to Helga and then around the corner. She let it out when she saw Helga's friend Phoebe walking over seemingly worried. "Helga…I'm going to stick my neck out here and try to help you with Arnold if you'll let me." Cassandra said and stuck out her hand as if to say there was going to be a truce between them. "Don't worry, I wont reveal anything." She said and the hesitant and angry Helga finally held out her hand. They shook on it and Cassandra thought she saw Brainy smile before leaving his post. "I think Brainy likes you." She said shortly.

Later that day Cassandra decided to walk to Arnold's house after school since it was almost time for the game. There was a certain way to approach with such facts that she learned earlier. It had all been occupying her mind and she had little room for anything else up there besides that. Another thing she knew is that she would have to study this matter just a little closer. "Cass…you are in a pickle." She said to herself. To be perfectly honest she had never reached this problem. Cassandra was after all in the fourth grade and when your in that grade you just don't like-like someone. It was oddly strange.

As soon as she reached the boarding house she stepped on the rail for the stampede of animals. Honestly she didn't want to freak out every time there was a pig running in front of her. She knocked on he door and a few minutes later an old man came to the door. "You here for Arnold?" The old man asked and she gave a small nod before going inside. There was a small grumbling sound and the old man grabbed his stomach. "You know miss, if there's one thing I've learned…" He didn't finish because she held up her hand. "My grandfather goes by the same code you do sir." She said giggling.

The old man smiled and left her to go to the bathroom while she explored the living room. "You must be a friend of Kimba's." An old woman said as she entered the living room. She was wearing western attire and some nice cowboy boots and gloves. To be perfectly honest this wasn't the strangest thing that she had ever seen in her entire short life. One time while visiting her sister's boyfriend's house she saw he had a nose ring. "Yeah, name's Cassandra Fletcher. You must be Arnold's grandmother, I must say you look to young to be a grandmother." Cassandra said taking a seat on the couch.

She spotted the pig and instantly brought her feet up so it wouldn't get her or sniff her or something. Arnold seemed to normal but she never expected a normal kid as him to have a pig in the city. Taking her jacket off she put it on backwards so she could pick up the pig and pet it with her sleeve. "This is not how I wanted my day to go and its not helping that you're a pig." Cassandra said and instantly took her jacket off and putting it on the couch in utter disgust and shivered. "Oh, hey Cassandra, are you ready for the base ball game?" Arnold asked as he came into the living room scaring her.

"Yeah lets get down there so we can kick those fifth graders butts." She said. Cassandra suddenly had a smile on her face when she thought of Helga and the secret that was told. How was she going to figure out if Arnold liked her the same way she did. Something was definitely going to happen once she could figure something out during the game.


	6. Chapter 6

Arnold and Cassandra were the first to end up at the small vacant lot called Gerald field. There was a bit of silence until Cassandra cleared her throat before she swung her bat. "So Arnold, you got anyone you have a ultra special crush on or are you still looking?" She asked looking over to see that his oblong head had turned a shade of red from mentioning this. Cassandra hoped if he did have a crush it would at least be Helga. "I'll take that blush and the silence as a yes." Cassandra said smiling and she could see him blush even deeper. "Lila…" Arnold said and her smile instantly vanished right then.

She hid it well though and hit her bat to the ground rather hard before her eye sat down. There had to be some way he would like Helga without her changing her personality. "Does Lila like you?" She asked mainly because she hated the thought of competition for Helga. Cassandra had to deal with that all the time with Timothy when her cousin had visited. "Well…no." Arnold said sounding rather disappointed at the moment and her invisible smile returned. There was definitely a chance she could get Helga and the Football Head together. "Oh Cassandra Fletcher, there you are." I voice came.

Cassandra turned around to see one of her many enemy's standing on the sidewalk, arms crossed. Amy was one of the rich kids at her school and now less worse then Rhonda. Her long curly brown hair was like that one lady with snakes for hair and her attitude was really annoying. "What do you want Amy, I'm not bothering you anymore with my 'needless advise' anymore." She said and the other girl just rolled her eyes like that speech was just a huge annoyance. "You didn't tell me you transferred, and now your hanging with a boy with a strange head." Amy teased and stuck her tongue out.

"Oh, since I left you have no one to tease. TO BAD BIG BUTT!"

"No need to yell Cassie, especially in front of your boyfriend."

"Pfft…he's not my boyfriend, now if you will excuse us we have a baseball game to play."

"Baseball…go fig, you were always one for sports."

"And you were always one to break a nail on Tuesdays, what's your point."

Amy just sighed at that response and shook her head in pure annoyance as Cassandra went on. Laughing Cassandra pointed at her enemy and started clucking like a chicken. As confused as Arnold was he just let it go one as he waited for Gerald or someone else to get here. Thankfully there was a person coming around the corner but it was Helga. She wasn't one for peace but she would have to do. "What's happening here Football Head, never seen her like this." Helga said almost laughing as Cassandra yelled. She was mildly concerned for Cassandra as she fought with this other girl.

"As far as I know, this girl used to go to school with her and they don't get along to well." Arnold pointed out. Nodding Helga just stood there thinking of how she was going to get this to stop. She felt she could consider Cassandra her friend mainly because she knew her secret. Helga looked from Arnold and straight to Cassandra who was throwing back funny remarks. There was something about being a noodle head princess who was obsessed with looking pretty. "Hey pretty princess, do you want to hear from Old Betsy and the Five Avengers?" Helga asked which received the Arnold look.

she winked at him and moved closer to the girl who was yelling At her new friend Cassandra. "I would listen to her, she'll make you regret crossing her like you are now." Cassandra helped along mostly hating to lie like this but it had to be done so she could be rid of the brat. Rolling her eyes Amy left but not before giving them the greatest evil eye she could muster. "Bye Amy." Cassandra said and gave Helga a high five after her enemy decided to leave them. "Did you see that, I tamed the wild beast and lived to tell the tale…survived its mighty claws." Cassandra said imitating Nigel Thornberry.

Cassandra realized she was receiving stares from Helga and Arnold which was slightly annoying. "Anyway, where are the others? There's a marathon on the Animal Network I'm missing Nigel Thornberry." She said. Cass knew her sister would tape it for her but still it was fun to watch on the TV while it happened. At this point everyone seemed to be coming to the field, especially parents and friends. She was definitely ready to embarrass the fifth graders out of the park and kick Wolfgang's but once again. She was about to yell at him when she saw her sister take a seat next to Arnold's crazy grandmother.

After a few minutes the game was underway and the fourth graders were winning by ten points. Cassandra was so ecstatic that every time she hit the ball she screamed and then ran. Everyone thought it was rather funny all except Rhonda who found her to be an extreme annoyance. She was going to have to keep an eye on that Rhonda girl, she may be trouble. Cassandra had a plan to put her and Curly together sooner or later and hoped it would play out really good. "This girl has a problem." She heard Wolfgang say and she stepped on his foot making him scream. "No you do." She replied smiling.

"That was awesome!" Gerald said after the game was over.

"I have to admit she was rather good." Rhonda said sighing.

"SHE WAS STUPENDOUS! You were great Cassandra." Curly said dreamily.

"Calm down Curly…" Helga said.

"Curly is right Cassandra, you were great." Peapod kid said.

"Thanks guys." Cassandra said as she tried to get away from the crazy crowd of her new friends. She grimaced at Curly's voice but laughed because she knew Rhonda was jealous of the attention. "That was awesome sis! Never thought I'd see that sponge of a brain come in handy!" Hanna yelled as she walked her way over to the gathering fourth graders around Cassandra. With a smile she silently thanked her dad for making her watch a few baseball games on the TV. "Well, Hanna…someone has to have photographic memory around the house." Cassandra teased and waved her friends goodbye.

Rhonda glared at Cassandra as she left for home with her older sister in tow behind her. That girl had no idea who she was messing with taking Curl's attention from her. It made her mad to see that all her years of pushing the insane boy away threw him to Cassandra. She tapped her foot against the sidewalk and looked over at Helga smiling. Oh yes, Helga had shown a definite distaste for the girl during recess and that was it. "Oh Helga, may I speak with you?" She asked catching the blond girls attention all of the sudden. When you needed revenge Helga was the one to go to at all times.

Helga turned away from Cassandra and gave Rhonda a smirk as she walked over to the rich girl. "What is it Princess?" Helga asked noticing her very annoyed posture. Whatever it is there must have been something good in it unless it was something against Curly or Harold. It wasn't that she liked the screw ball or anything it was just that they had an understanding. "I need your help." Rhonda said. She said it innocently to meaning something was definitely up. "What with?" Helga said gaining curiosity with every question she asked her. "Cassandra is getting on my nerves." She replied.

"Ah, you see I cant do that." Helga responded and then walked away from the spoiled rich brat smiling. This was not Pataki behavior meaning there must be something Cassandra had on her. She would have to find out and then it would be two birds with one stone like her dad said. She decided to walk home with Nadine by her side as she thought about what to do. Something like this had to take extra caution since she had something she was trying to take back. Without Curly's constant attention she felt she was going to be lost forever. "She stole Curly." Rhonda mumbled audibly.

This caught Nadine's attention as she was busy watching the ants on the sidewalk trying not to step on them. She knew her rich friend liked Curly but not enough to actually miss his obsessed ways. Nadine was beginning to wonder about Rhonda's sanity and whether it was deteriorating. Things like that rarely happened to fourth graders but Curly was the one exception for insanity. "Rhonda…are you saying you like-like Curly?" She asked pulling her full attention to her best friend. "This cant be happening Nadine, I think I've gone insane…what will people think?" Rhonda asked sounding dramatic.

Nadine was about to say something but decided to wait to see where her dramatics decided to take her. Usually they ended up watching one of those stupid love movies at Rhonda's house. Other times they ended up talking about boys in her room and what age was appropriate for boyfriends. This was always how it started and Nadine whished she would accept Curly's offer. All his swooning may make him think it was for not but in all reality she liked him like flies to poop. "Cassandra will pay." She heard her friend vow and knew this whole thing wasn't going to end well for them.

Cassandra was walking with Helga who seemed to be scowling as they reached her house. There was a light blue car in front of it and Helga just gave an annoyed sigh before looking at her. "My sister is home, I figured she would be back in Alaska doing her teaching job or whatever." She said and then put her hand on the door knob which opened really fast for Cass's liking. There was a tall girl with short hair and she giggled with happiness when she saw Helga. "OH BABY SISTER! I'm so glad your home, how did your little game go?" The woman asked and then took Helga in a bone crushing hug.

This wasn't going to sit well with Cassandra seeing as she hated those kind of hugs. If this woman was going to hug her she had to find a way to get out of it pronto. She could act like she was sick but then she probably wouldn't gain entry to Helga's home. "And who is this Helga?" The woman asked looking to Helga for an answer to the question. "Her name's Cassandra." Helga said. "Hi…" Cassandra managed but then was taken into a hug which was starting to annoy her. Cassandra had to think of a quick plan to get out of this woman's death grip. "Let go…I'm Claustrophobic." She managed.

That was only half true and as much as she hated to lie about it there was some truth to it. The woman instantly let her go and apologized as Cassandra followed Helga to her room. "Who the heck was that?" Cassandra asked right after Helga closed the door and locked it tight. "That was Olga…my really annoying sister." Helga responded taking a seat on the bed with a sigh. "So, your claustrophobic huh?" Helga asked catching Cassandra's distracted attention. "Only a little…along with being a germaphobe." Cassandra admitted. "Have you figured a few things out to help me?" She asked.

"Besides the fact that he likes Lila, nope."

"Nothing new there, she's little Mrs. Perfect."

"I know how that goes…"

Helga was about to ask her what she meant by that until there was a knock at the door. "Baby sister, you and your friend need to come with me to go shopping." Olga yelled. Cassandra sighed in frustration and then threw a pillow at the door before yelling at her. "Busy!" She yelled making Helga laugh as she went to the door, scowl back on her face. "Your touchy feely crap freaks Cassie out Olga, you came off as to…" Helga thought about it. Honestly there wasn't a good enough word. "Creepy, it was plain creepy…what if you had germs?" Cassandra asked cringing at the thought of such things.

At that explanation Helga began laughing and couldn't stop because it was a funny thought. She totally had her sister at a stand still as emotions were plainly evident on her face. Obviously she didn't know if she should cry at this but knowing her she would start soon. "Here comes the water works, I'm beginning to like you Cassandra because you went beyond." Helga said. Cassandra just rolled her eyes and watched Olga's reaction ready to apologize for being mean. Only she couldn't bring herself to do it because the girl was a huge hugger and she hated that. "Your to cute!" Olga said laughing.

This was not the response she was thinking about, in fact it was the opposite of what she wanted. Cassandra was going to have to call her sister if this girl hugged her to death again like last time. She could tell Olga was going in for the hug again and that was not a good thing at all. "Helga…do you have something I can spray in your sisters face if she tries to hug me again?" Cassandra asked getting into attack mode ready for the kill incase there was another love attack. The mere suggestion made Helga laugh as she got up to push her sister out of the room. "We can take care of ourselves." Helga said.

"I just had a thought." Cassandra said taking a seat on Helga's bed next to the window. "What about?" Helga asked joining her. "Helga, you torment the guy you like…what if Tommy is doing the same thing?" She responded. "I could totally find out for you." Nodding Cassandra looked out the window before responding to that. "Thanks, now about Arnold…you told him a couple months ago right?" Cassandra asked. "Don't remind me." Helga said with a tiny hint of a scowl playing on her face. "I bet he's still thinking about it, his mind is still reeling about that kiss of yours." Cassandra said imagining it.

After a while they decided to leave Helga's house and go to the park where a couple of kids were playing. When they reached the swings Cassandra had spotted Brainy and Iggy skipping rocks. "I think Brainy likes you." Cassandra said absentmindedly as she began swinging back and forth. About the only response she got out of that was a slight nod and wide smile. "He's more like a brother to me." Helga responded. Nodding Cassandra went back to thinking about what to do. "Hey Cassandra." A voice said bringing her out of her thoughts as she looked for the sours, it was Shay her best friend.

"Shay! Helga, this is Shay." Cassandra said jumping of the swing as it was right in midair just then. Helga waited for the swing to stop before deciding to get of and meet the girl named Shay. "Its exceptional meeting you." Shay said which reminded the tall girl of Phoebe a little. It was funny how they were almost alike and it reminded her that she needed to call the Japanese girl later. "Yeah same here." Helga responded shaking her hand before her eyes wondered around. She suddenly spotted Arnold walking up the trail to the swings and she took to the shadows of the trees. This confused Cassie.

She looked over to where Helga pointed and told Shay she would talk to her on the phone later tonight. Cassandra put her back to the tree and looked at the offending girl for a few minutes before talking. "What are you doing, I thought we were going to confront this." She said whispering. Cassandra was in a word very annoyed with her at the moment because her fear of rejection. If this was how Tommy acted half the time she knew she was going to have to do something about this. "Cassandra, I took it back I cant say it again." Helga whispered. Shaking her head Cassandra sighed and left the tree.

"I think I like her."

"Arnold, I think you've gone crazy."

"Why do you say that?"

"For one thing she's…"

"Gerald, she's nice."

Shaking his head Gerald leaned against the slide and stared at his best friend before continuing. He was obviously getting frustrated whit Arnold as he was talking about like-liking Cassandra. The girl was a little strange for his taste and it didn't matter that she knew Fuzzy Slippers. Anyone who decided to be friends with Curly was a degree of insane in his books for sure. "Arnold…what makes you think this isn't going to be another Lila incident as per the usual." Gerald said. This received one of those glares usually reserved for Helga G. Pataki at times. "We don't even know if she's here." He pouted.

At that moment Cassandra walked from behind a tree pointing at it like she was talking to someone. Gerald shook his head and let his friend go on with what he was doing trying to let this go. At that moment he saw Helga hiding behind the tree and looking rather worried about something. This was really unsettling to him at that moment because you rarely saw that in her. "Arnold…something isn't right man…" Gerald whispered but Arnold wasn't even listening. "Hey Cassandra…can I ask you something?" Arnold said as he made his way over to her as she turned around. "Sure, what is it?" She asked.

Cassandra looked from Arnold then to Gerald who had apparently spotted Helga behind the tree. Suddenly she got this feeling in the pit of her stomach as the football headed boy took a deep breath. "I think I like-like you." Arnold said making Cassandra put her hand on her head just then. This was not supposed to happen, especially with Helga right behind the tree now. "C-can you repeat that." She said trying not to stutter as she looked at the tree.


	7. Chapter 7

At that moment Cassandra walked from behind a tree pointing at it like she was talking to someone. Gerald shook his head and let his friend go on with what he was doing trying to let this go. At that moment he saw Helga hiding behind the tree and looking rather worried about something. This was really unsettling to him at that moment because you rarely saw that in her. "Arnold…something isn't right man…" Gerald whispered but Arnold wasn't even listening. "Hey Cassandra…can I ask you something?" Arnold said as he made his way over to her as she turned around. "Sure." She asked.

Cassandra looked from Arnold then to Gerald who had apparently spotted Helga behind the tree. Suddenly she got this feeling in the pit of her stomach as the football headed boy took a deep breath. "I think I like-like you." Arnold said making Cassandra put her hand on her head just then. This was not supposed to happen, especially with Helga right behind the tree now. "C-can you repeat that." She said trying not to stutter as she looked at the tree.

This was a nightmare, a total and complete nightmare that she couldn't wake up from in the least if she wanted. Cassandra couldn't believe Arnold just did that and with Helga hiding behind a tree no less. She wasn't even listening when Arnold repeated himself with an added blush of red. Not entirely knowing how she was going to fix this mess she just did what she would normally. She took her right hand and smacked his forehead before yelling Helga's name and going behind the tree. "I knew this would happen…its Lila all over again Cassandra." Helga said as she sat beside her.

There it went with the mention of Lila again; she was going to have to talk to that girl. Cassandra poked her head from behind the tree to see if Arnold was still there and sighed. Something had to be done and fast but not with Gerald there or it wouldn't work at all. "Helga, you have to clear this whole thing up with him or I'm going to outright tell him." Cassandra said taking another glance to see if Arnold was still there or not. "Incase your forgetting I cant it's…" Helga didn't finish. "Cant or wont, are you afraid of what people will think because that's a bunch of crap." Cassandra said a little louder.

Normally she wouldn't make her voice like this but the circumstances had suddenly changed to dire. She finally figured out Helga which meant she had finally figured out Tommy for sure now. Cassandra went away from the tree and looked at Arnold though slightly annoyed eyes. If he thought he was going to get away with telling her that he like-liked her he was wrong. The girl who really liked him was behind that tree and feeling as heart broken as a dead fish upside down. "Gerald, would you mind going someplace else, I want to talk to Football Head." Cassandra said gaining an angry look.

If she was going to talk to Arnold alone she needed Gerald away and it was better with the Helga look. Something she learned would get her through a Helga like situation from now on. Cassandra didn't have the eyebrows for it but she at least had the attitude to present herself. After some hesitation the tall haired boy left and stole a small glance at Helga first before leaving. It was obvious he was a little concerned about her Un-Helga like behavior she presented them with. "Listen up Arnold; I don't like you that way because well…you're not my type." Cassandra said, as she went on Helga sighed.

She was contemplating whether she should outright confess again or let Cassandra go on. If she let the girl go on about how Arnold made the wrong choice there would be comforting. Helga would love to comfort him but that only solved a small problem for her, not the big one. For one thing she knew Cassie was right, she needed to tell Arnold her feelings. There was another option thought, she could play hero and got on to Cass for hurting Arnold's feelings. At this point she was out of the shelter from behind the tree and looking at him. Cassandra thought she was home free so she left.

Cassandra decided to go to the other side of the park knowing it was where Tommy hung out. Mainly to be away from everyone who bothered him and when he was being "Evil". He wasn't there but that didn't mean he wouldn't be since she knew Tommy was there almost all the time. She stared into the small river and smiled before deciding to leave, she would talk to him later. "To late anyway." Cassandra mumbled and realized it was time for that marathon to start. It should be fun because Nigel Thornberry unlike Nate Carbon explained many of the Animals. "Should have called Hanna." She said.

When Cassandra got home Hanna seemed to be making dinner since her parents were apparently out. Dad might have been at the office or at court since he was a lawyer and all that. "Welcome home brat!" She heard her sister yell from the kitchen as she removed her jacket. "Hanna, you wouldn't believe what happened at Helga's house earlier today." Cassandra said as she took a seat at the table. "Hold that thought, Jamie-O is coming over to have dinner with us today." Hanna said putting her hair in a pony tale. At this news Cassandra just stared at her like she was insane or something.

"Mom said no idiots over unless they were home."

"Alright, something happened after the game didn't it."

"Besides the fact that Helga's sister is a little insane?"

"You answered with a question Cassandra."

"Ugh…Arnold like-likes me."

"That's…a problem?"

"Helga likes Arnold…stupid boys."

"Oh…unfortunately you're just that cute Cass."

"On the plus side I figured out Tommy."

Hanna rolled her eyes and went back to working on dinner before she was interrupted any further. She wasn't one to brag that she knew what the little boy's game was but it was about time. That brought to question on whether he confessed or not but then she wasn't one to pry. Even in high school she knew the ways of the fourth grade, the small kid rules that were made. It was like a society run by little kids and it took them forever to figure out their feelings. "So did you talk to the little dweeb or something even remotely close to that?" Hanna asked. "Nope, not at all." Cassandra responded.

"Then how did you figure him out?" Hanna asked obviously confused as to what her sister was talking about. At this question Cassandra looked up from the table to her older sister and sighed. "Helga is Arnold's tormenter and Tommy is mine, do you get the picture or do I have to draw it." She said, her face changing to an annoyed expression but faltered a little to a smile. "I could have told you that." Hanna responded and then took something out of the oven and put it on the table. Lasagna was one of her favorite dishes and as long as she had that she didn't mind Jamie-O coming over at all.

"What time is he coming?"

"An hour, he's brining his brother and sister."

"Great, just lovely."

Gerald was beyond annoyed, as soon as he got home his brother told him to get into the car with Timberly. Since his mom and dad weren't home he was forced to go on Jamie-O's stupid date, and with his little sister. He was going to have to listen to her complain about certain things and keep asking about the time. "Come on guys, she has a sister around Gerald's age so you guys can go play with her or something." Jamie-O said. He was getting a little aggravated about all the complaining that was going on. There was honestly no reason to complain if there was a kid Gerald's age going to be there.

"I know at your age girls seem icky but Hanna's sister is pretty cool." Jamie-O said as she started the car. In all actuality he and Hanna's sister didn't get along that well but he didn't care. She was mildly entertaining and she was fun to tease when it came to being a germ-a-phobic. "She switched schools a couple days ago and she probably hasn't made any new friends yet." He continued. His eyes shifted to his brother in the passenger's seat and back to the road. That seemed to get the boys attention, course he didn't know the dots had connected right there. He shook his head and they drove off.

When they reached a building with a dark blue door Jamie-O stopped the car and got out. He went to the other side and opened the door for his brother and then for his sister. As soon as everyone was out of the car he closed the doors and went to knock on the front door. After what seemed like thirty seconds a little girl came to the door and squeaked a little. She saw Gerald and was obviously thinking about what had happened earlier. "Jamie didn't say you were his brother." She said. Cassandra let them in and Jamie instantly went to the kitchen. "Cassandra, we got to talk about earlier." Gerald said.

Sighing Cassandra motioned for him to follow her to her room and kept the door open a crack. She knew this was going to come out of his mouth sooner or later when she saw him. "He shouldn't like-like me Gerald, what the heck was I supposed to say to him anyway?" She asked. It at least looked like Gerald wasn't going to yell at her about it which mad her a little happy. Maybe he was just going to defend his best friend like she did on a daily basis and all that. "Actually, you did the right thing. He seems to fall for girls that are almost like him." Gerald said and shook his head at his own statement.

"She doesn't have much of a chance then…" Cassandra said out loud which caught Gerald's ear. Obviously he was confused about the little outburst she just presented him with. He wasn't as dense as Arnold but he was a little stubborn when it came to a lot of other things. "Who do you mean…was that why Helga was behind that tree or something?" Gerald asked. His eyes were growing wider and it made it hard for her to hide the secret. Helga had trusted her with this. "Please don't let her know that you know Gerald, she trusts me." Cassandra pleaded. "Alright, fine I wont." He responded.

Cassandra was about to thank him when there was a small knock on the door and a little girl walked in. "Gerald, is this your girlfriend?" Timberly asked making both of them blush. "TIMBERLY!" He complained and pushed her out of the room as she protested that she was board. Cassandra took a seat on her bed and shook her head realizing Gerald was in on Helga's secret. She was about to talk to him about it again but she heard her sister call for dinner.

After dinner Cassandra decided she and Gerald would do the dishes and make Timberly put them up. There was much complaining coming from her end but with the promise of candy stopped. Cassandra had told her there was a secret candy stash in a box under her bed earning a smile. "I was nervous on my first day at your school, had no idea I would make so many friends." Cassandra said. It had only been two days and she had made a couple of friends in her class so far. "I have a question though, why Curly? He's not as sane as the rest of us are you know." Gerald responded as he handed her a dish.

"He sits by himself on the bus, he apparently doesn't have any friends besides Eugene…he interests me."

"I'm beginning to question your sanity Cassandra."

"Who said I was sane, I just like doing the unexpected."

Gerald was about to respond to this little statement of hers but it was to late because it was time to go. He just sighed and decided he was going to deal with it tomorrow or something. Yawning he straight to the car and thanked Hanna for the delicious meal they just had to eat. After they left Cassandra decided to let the yawn she held in go making her sleepy. "I'm tired, tell mom and dad I say hi." Cassandra said going to her bedroom and changing her clothes before going to bed. She was tired and due to all the excitement fell asleep instantly with her stuffed bear Mr. Cuddles McStuffington.


	8. Chapter 8

-Before night time-

After Cassandra left Helga just stood there with that trademark scowl slightly softened for Arnold. She didn't know what to do but she remembered what she did when Lila hurt her beloved Arnold. "Oh well, there's always someone else Arnoldo…you just keep getting the wrong girl." Helga said. At this point she was really nervous and hadn't talked about this kind of thing in ages. Rolling his eyes the football headed boy shook his head and was about to walk away from her. She sighed in relief and walked the opposite direction till Arnold called her name. "Helga, can I ask you something?" He asked.

She mentally smacked herself for not walking away with Cassandra when she had the chance. Now she had to deal with Arnold who was probably a little upset with the other girl. Curse her for falling in love with the boy and being so obsessed with him to write poetry. "Whatever floats your boat Football Head, what do you need?" Helga asked sounding nervous now. In all truth she hoped it had nothing to do with what just happened or about a few months ago. "Um…You want me to walk you home, its getting a little dark out now so…" He didn't finish because she put her hand up to stop him.

Helga was elated that he didn't bring any of it up but still there was an um at the beginning of the sentence. She looked around to see where Gerald went and realized he must have gone home. "Sure why not, I could use something to laugh about and your head is the right thing." She joked. A small chuckle escaped Arnold's mouth earning an eyebrow raise as they walked the path. It felt so awkward to be talking to him at this time of the day and without any insult from her lips. Course it didn't go unnoticed because after a while he looked at her and stopped. "Hey its getting late." She said scowling.

Obviously there was something on Arnold's mind but he wasn't saying anything to her. At least they were almost to her house so she wouldn't have to deal with him any more. He obviously was a little surprised that she was behind the tree which didn't surprise her. He was as dense as the fog that surrounded the ground on a misty night on Saturdays it seemed. "Well…bye." She said rather quickly and opened the door and got in quickly to close the door in front of him. She was supposed to tell him her feelings not run out on him like this. Now she was in trouble with Cassandra tomorrow for sure.

-Next day-

Breakfast was already on the table when Cassandra woke up at seven in the morning. Her mom sat in one of the recliners reading a book from one of her favorite authors. She took a plate of eggs and bacon and sat on the couch where her sister seemed to be asleep. Cassandra took it upon herself to wake up her sister who seemed to be deep in sleep. "Don't wake her up Cassie." Her mom said not removing her eyes from the book. She had always wondered how she did that. "I don't want her to walk me to the bus stop anyway, she embarrassed me yesterday." Cassandra said and got her stuff ready to go.

As soon as the clock read seven she rushed out the door and took an alternate rout to her bust stop. She felt like walking to Tommy's house and being the good natured person she was talk to him. Maybe would admit to it and maybe he wouldn't but still, his feelings counted non the less. When she made it to the corner she looked to see he was at the foot of his stoop reading. "Alright Cass, you cant be as dense as Arnold." She whispered and cleared her throat as she walked over. His reaction was that of surprise when he saw her and instantly put the book up. "Cassandra…what…" He didn't finish.

"Save it, I'm only here to tell you that I figured you out and that I like-like you to." Cassandra said. Instantly she walked away leaving a dazed Tommy standing on the sidewalk confused. When she turned the corner and laughed a little before reaching her bus stop in time. She hoped this Arnold and Helga crisis would be solved by the time school was done and over with. There were other things to deal with at the moment like Curly and his Rhonda crazed obsession. This was going to be one of those interesting days and she could tell Rhonda didn't like her all that much at the moment.

When she reached the bus stop Cassandra was thankful she was there alone so she could think. In all truth she didn't know if she had feelings for him or not but it would have been possible. She would have to ask Darnell if what she thought was going on was for real or not but still. Cassandra realized that it might have been a bad idea but decided to leave it alone for now. She didn't want to deal with anything like this till she had a chance to talk to him but it was already to late. "Boy Cass, why do you always open your mouth before you think." She mumbled as Gerald and Arnold walked right over.

It might be awkward or she could just make it that way which is how she had been making it already. She figured Gerald wouldn't want her to make it crazier then it already was at this very moment. Before she could find out if he talked to Helga bout the situation the bus was there. When the doors slid open she walked in only to be greeted by Curly who wanted her to sit with him. Taking her seat she noticed a very annoyed looking Rhonda and smiled a knowing smile. "Hey Curly, so how are you this morning?" She asked looking away from Rhonda to him. "I'm fine Cassandra." He responded smiling.

"Listen Curly, you like Rhonda correct?"

"Of course, she's my little strawberry muffin cake."

"I figured, and you want her to like you right?"

"Oh she likes me she's just afraid to admit it."

That's what she figured but didn't bring the conversation any further then that as she looked around. She saw Helga looking out the window without any inkling of emotion on her face at all. Something told her that she didn't tell Arnold of her feelings and he was still dense as ever. Cassandra was going to have to definitely ask Helga if she did tell Arnold anything of importance. The whole day was going to be full of things she definitely had to do during and after school. "Cassandra, I have a plan. Maybe we can make her jealous and she will admit her feelings for me." Curly whispered and she smiled.

Cassandra didn't really like the idea but she decided to listen to Curly's idea and see what he had in mind. As he went on and on about his little plan her eyed went to Rhonda and Nadine. She could have sworn she saw Rhonda give her an evil glare making her smile with a nod. His plan just might work and she would definitely go running to him confessing her feelings. Cassandra was about to say something when she felt a poke on her shoulder and she looked up to see Iggy. He was probably listening in on the conversation and wanted to intervene so as to stop it or whatever.

Turning around she realized he had a worried look on his face making her wonder about the cause. "What's up with you Iggy?" She asked adjusting her place in the seat so she was facing him. "Please don't mess with Rhonda, you don't know what your getting yourself into." He said. Sighing Cassandra shook her head and took a quick glance over to the rich girl and closed her eyes. It was going to be a snowy day in June before she would listen to her cousins whining. Sure he was popular and maybe Rhonda could revoke his cool license but this was important, school president important.

-A few minutes earlier-

Rhonda was in a word annoyed, she didn't know why her stocker had stopped his crazy actions. To be quite truthful she really loved all the attention that he gave her since the first grade. There were times when his actions got on her nerves and she shouted at him angrily for five minutes. Usually all that would not deter him from bothering on those very funny and interesting days. Only on the second day Curly had stopped bothering her and calling her his sweet muffing cake. It was all because of Iggy's cousin Cassandra with her strange ways that hypnotized him into liking the strawberry blond girl.

She walked to Nadine's house like she did every morning and looked side to side for watchers. Her plan wasn't going to go good if she had interlopers in on her plan to destroy the girl. Anyone would know that wearing a scarf and sunglasses on your head made you suspicious. Walking up the steps she held out her hand to knock on the bluish purple door in front of her. Nadine was probably going to be a while because she had to get her tarantula ready for "show and tell". The door opened and out stepped the dark girl with a cloth over a small box. "Why wont you tell me the reason?" She asked.

"She took Curly from me."

"Oh."

"Is that all you can say, I just told you my deepest secret and you say oh!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a secret, it was kind of obvious."

"Oh Nadine what have I become…obsessed with that…Curly…"

As Rhonda when on with her little dramatics Nadine just went on her way to the bus stop. She wasn't in the mood to listen to her friend talk about how she shouldn't like crazy people. In truth she thought they would make a great couple like someone else she knew liked some one. If Helga could get her head out of her butt Arnold would actually like her and stop going for Lila. Course from what she heard from Iggy on the phone Arnold started to like-like Cassandra. The only reason Nadine knew of Helga's feelings for Arnold was because it was so obvious. She was meaner to him than anyone else.

Nadine was halfway there when Rhonda caught up to her, scarf and sunglasses disappeared from her head. Her glasses replaced the very expensive and fashionable sunglasses that she wore earlier. "I don't understand you Rhonda." Nadine said deciding to put her spider inside the backpack. This had to be one of the longest days to her, that's what it felt like right now for sure now. They were going to set her pet spider out on Cassandra for revenge because she stole Curly. So this in fact was going to be a long day and it would end with her searching for her spider. She hated this plan so much right now.


	9. Chapter 9

-P.S. 117-

Tommy quietly took his seat and watched as Darnell walked in with Shay by his side talking. It only made sense since her best friend had changed schools just three days ago. He looked over at the dreadlock wearing boy and cleared his through as if to speak to him. "Darnell, can I talk to you for just a few minutes before the teacher walks in?" He asked. The dark boy nodded and led him out of the classroom and into the halls. "You look like you saw a ghost man." Darnell said. In all manner of fact Tommy wasn't all that sure if it was a ghost or not. "Something weird happened." Tommy said.

The boy with the dreadlocks gave his friend an expectant look waiting for Tommy to tell him. Obviously something happened to make the boy look like his world was about to end. "Cassandra walked over to my house this morning and said something about like-liking me." He blurted. Darnell's eyes didn't usually get very wide but this was one of those times for him. "Hmmm…" Darnell said and put his hand on his chin trying to think about what was happening. "You didn't tell her did you?" Tommy asked as Timothy walked up to the door. "No, did you Timothy?" Darnell asked. "No." He said.

In all truth Timothy had figured out what they were talking about when Tommy said her. Something must have happened with Cassandra if they were having this conversation. "So…what happened with Cassandra?" He decided to ask receiving a glare from Tommy. "She walked up to him this morning telling him that she like-liked him which is weird." Darnell said. Shrugging the other boy decided to go into the classroom. Whatever she had planned would probably present itself. Timothy knew this for sure since she was really resourceful. "She may have figured it out or something." He said to him.

-P.S. 118-

Nadine and Rhonda snuck their way to the classroom and luckily were the first ones in the classroom. The short haired girl looked around and opened the desk when no one was there. As soon as the tarantella was released into the desk the top was put down and they sat down. No sooner had they got in their seats Mr. Simmons walked into the class room smiling. He was elated they were early. "Oh what a 'special' occasion this must be for you guys to come in early." He said. Rhonda rolled her eyes waiting for everyone to get in class so it could start and things could unfold sooner or later.

Thankfully the next two people in the classroom were Cassandra and Helga who were talking quietly. Rhonda couldn't really understand what she was hearing but it had something to do with Curly. The rest was a little muffled and it was getting frustrating not knowing anything. For a brief moment the girl thought she saw Helga's usual scowl gone which made her mad. What did Helga see in this girl who had as bad a temper as bad as hers when angered. "Rhonda…I really don't like this plan." Nadine whispered even though she knew it was to late to get the spider out of the desk now.

As soon as everyone got to their seats Mr. Simmons called for everyone to get out their supplies. Cassandra reached into her desk and grabbed a pencil which made Rhonda sigh. She should have been yelling by bow why wasn't she yelling her head off right now anyway. "Cassandra…" Helga and Gerald spoke her name at the same time getting her attention. They were both pointing at the side of the desk so she decided to look to the side. She instantly regretted it. Cassandra opened her mouth and put her hand over her mouth wide eyed. This got Arnolds attention and he looked over at the huge spider.

Reaching into her desk Cassandra pulled out a big journal still covering her mouth, tears flowing. She thought Arnold's pig was scary but this was deeper then just some pig for a pet. Cassandra was deathly afraid of spiders because her sister had been bit by one once. Not a big one but one of those smaller ones that didn't seem that bad next to this one. She opened the journal and started writing and passed the folded note to Helga. She opened it and then gave it to Gerald. He looked from Cassandra to Helga and then the unopened note before opening it to read it then gave it to Arnold quickly.

He nodded as soon as he read the letter and then went up to Mr. Simmons who looked shocked. Cassandra watched as the teacher walked over to the desk looking at the big spider. "Just take a few deep breaths Cassie, everything is going to be alright just calm down." He said. The spider was slowly walking to the top of the desk and its many eyes settled on her. Iggy was on the other side of the room and he could totally hear the ragged breaths coming from her. He had only seen her like this a few times and didn't like it at all. Iggy got up and took Cassandra from the desk followed by Curly.

Curly was probably going in the defense of the spider like he would have normally but stopped. He seemed to be having an inner battle with himself because he wanted the spider safe. On the other hand if he went to Cassandra he would made Rhonda jealous of her. Then again that might of what led to the familiar looking insect on Cassandra's desk now. Yes Curly knew who's spider it was. He looked from it to Nadine who's eyes connected with his and nodded. It was a slight nod and her eyes went to the side where Rhonda looked on seemingly confused as to what was going on.

"I think I'm going to need a flyswatter."

"What…NO DON'T KILL THE SPIDER MR. SIMMONS!"

"Curly, calm down…I don't know how this spider got in but…"

"We need to set it free, Brainy…do you have a paper bag?"

Brainy was surprised when all the attention that was on Cassandra was suddenly on him making him nervous. He looked over to Iggy who seemed to be trying to comfort his cousin. Soon his eyes settled on Curly who had just addressed him and he gave a nod getting out a paper bag. The bag was handed to Harold who gave it to Eugene who gave it to Iggy. He was about to give her the bag but she stopped him and gave Curly a hug before taking it. She put it up to her face and started breathing in and out as she left for the nurse. She reflected on the whispered conversation they just had in the class.

"I'm guessing you know who's spider this is."

"Nadine's, I'm thinking Rhonda planned it."

"Seems she is jealous, looks like its working…I need to go to the Nurse, tell me later." She pulled away and left.

"MY DARLING, I SHALL COME AFTER CLASS!" He yelled mainly for effect. He looked over at Rhonda and gave her a small glare before returning to his seat. It was a little to far but he seemed to be content with how things had just turned out.

Before lunch time Cassandra had returned to the classroom seemingly refreshed and calmer. Obviously Rhonda had been greatly jealous which made the blond a little mad and a bit happy. Maybe she would actually tell the boy her feelings before the day was out or something. When she sat in her seat she received a look from Helga that looked so much like worry. "I'm fine." She whispered. As soon as she looked away from Helga she looked over to the offending girl. There was a mix of anger and concern on her face and Cassandra didn't know which one to go by. Iggy would have a talk with her.


	10. Chapter 10

All during lunch Cassandra sat next to her cousin as she tried to figure a few things out in her head. It was extremely hard to do since Iggy kept asking her if she was ok because of this morning. She was having a very interesting discussion with Sheena about a scab collection. It was interesting to hear about but not something she would like to see since it was gross. Needless to say she had actually gotten a peek since the girl had brought a small container full. She almost threw up but stopped herself when she spotted Helga giving her an amused look so she stuck her tongue out at the blond girl.

When she saw Rhonda giving her that scowl she had begun to recognize she leaned to Curly. All Rhonda could tell was she may have been giving him a kiss on the cheek but no. She was merely whispering to him that the girl in question was watching them and he looked her way. The scowl ever present on her small face disappeared when he gave her an annoyed look. The boy knew he wouldn't be able to get her to admit anything on her own and gladly excepted this. He hated having to deceive her brain into thinking he was going for another girl most definitely but it had to be done.

Cassandra watched as this staring contest went on and got up from her chair to go over to Helga. She didn't want to be in this crossfire when the two of them began fighting over nothing important. "Geez what's gotten in their lunch to make them so insane?" She asked. Cassandra just gave a small smile and when she took a seat she gave Helga a serious look hoping for that answer. Instantly the girl with the ponytails paled and looked over to her friend and then Cassandra. It was then that she knew that Helga G. Pataki didn't tell the boy of her dreams that she like-liked him. "HELGA!" She shouted.

"Are you kidding me with this?" She whispered.

"I couldn't do it…not after that crap." Helga said back.

"You did it once why not again?"

"What makes you so sure he like-likes me anyway."

That was it, Cassandra had the greatest idea and she only needed to trick Arnold to get him to confess. Yes, this could work but she would need Gerald and Phoebe to help her with this. "I think I know, my sister pulled his on one of her friends once so it just might work." She said. Her plan was instantly into action and she got this little smile on her face Helga didn't like. "Uh-oh." Helga uttered. Cassandra stood up and sat next to Arnold looking away from him for a sec. "Arnold, lets play a game…these are all yes or no questions so answer instantly ok." She said that evil smirk caught Gerald's eye.

"Ok…what's it called?"

"It doesn't have a name yet."

"Oh…alright."

"Do you own a pig?"

"Yes…why?"

"Don't think about it just answer."

"Oh sorry."

"Do you live in an attic?"

"Yes."

For ten minutes she asked as many questions as she could muster then gave Gerald a ghost of a smile. Somehow he didn't think this was a good idea but let her get on with her little game she was playing. "Do you like-like Helga G. Pataki?" She asked quickly. "Yes…wait what?" He asked seemingly confused for a few minutes before gasping at what she just made him say. She was smiling now and she had this look that said 'I knew it'. He was about to protest that she tricked him but didn't get to. Cassandra was up before he could stammer out any other words of wisdom.

"She got you good…" was all Gerald said when Arnold put his head on the table seemingly defeated.


	11. Chapter 11

Arnold was in a word dumbfounded that Cassandra had pulled such an annoying trick on him. He stopped to think about all the questions she had asked that he had answered. They were all yes questions so it honestly wasn't fair and it was a genuine Helga move if he ever saw one. He looked at Gerald who was just chuckling instead of freaking out about the question. "Aren't you going to say how wrong it is for me to like her?" Arnold asked.

This got Gerald's attention and he looked at his football headed friend for a few minutes and just has a shrug for his answer. When the bell rang they all went out for recess and Cassandra stood with Brainy for a few minutes. She was telling him how she had set her plan into action and Brainy seemed a little pleased. He knew how much Helga liked the football headed boy and thought it was a good idea.

Brainy kind of wished he had thought of that in the first place but it was too late for that now. "Can I ask you something Brainy?" Cassandra asked moving her strawberry blond hair behind her ear. "Uh…sure." Came his response and Cassandra put her hands on her hips. "Did you like Helga at one point or what?" She asked.

"Uh…I guess I did at one point…but then I found that I wouldn't gain her affection…after her confession I was kind of glad." Brainy responded.

"But you don't now or something? Wait why you are glad?"

"I was waiting for her to make that final step…sounds a little grown up I guess…"

"Yeah, it does for a fourth grader…as how long as she liked him?"

"Since pre-school."

"Well crud…that's a lot of unrequited like-likes."

They both watched Arnold from a distance as he was obviously trying to forget what happened. Brainy was the first to speak although it was a little breathy and stretched out a little. "I think…he needs another push…" He said taking a swig of his inhaler and breathing normal. "Alright, watch the master at work Brainy because she's going postal." She said. She got up from her spot and gave the boy a thumb up before skipping over to Arnold with a smile.

At this he just shook his head and adjusted his glasses looking over at the dumpster where Helga wasn't at. He smiled searching the playground. "Mind telling me what my cousin and you were talking about?" Iggy asked rather curious now. Iggy had been in the loop about Helga's liking for Arnold only Helga didn't know he knew. "She's trying to get Helga and Arnold together it seems." He said inhaler in mouth again. The other boy just shook his head and leaned against the wall watching the spectacle taking the place. "I think she's doing the same with Rhonda and Curly." Brainy said.

Iggy instantly paled. He didn't know what to say to that all he knew was that if she didn't hurry with that Rhonda was going to pull something probably.

Cassandra skipped over to Arnold and sat next to him with Helga in view on the monkey bars. She gave a small nod to her and gave Arnold and innocent smile as she looked at him. "Can I ask you something?" She asked which received an amused laugh from Gerald and she scowled. Honestly if he wasn't going to cooperate he was going to Phoebe about his crush on her.

Not that he knew she knew or anything but she figured it when she had totally caught him starting. She was going to save it for a special occasion if they hadn't gotten together by the time fourth grad was over. "Now I'm going to ask you why you told me you like-liked me in the park?"

"I don't know…I guess I kind of liked you in a way…"

"What about Helga? She was standing behind the tree when you confessed this crap."

"I know that…I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Well then, I want you and Helga to go talk behind that dumpster…don't worry I'll keep watch."

At this Arnold watched as Cassandra went to go talk to Helga who jumped off the bars. She didn't seem all that happy to be off them but that was of course her usual scowl. He headed to the dumpster with his heart pounding like a jackhammer all the way there. Arnold wondered if this was how Helga felt when she had confessed her deepest secret. "Walk faster Football Head." She said with a hint of anger that wasn't present in her face just a small smile. "I can walk as fast as I want Helga." Arnold said with that omnipresent smile of his that made her melt every time she saw it come on him.

Stinky seemed to be a little interested in the small exchange that Cassandra kept having. She just seemed to be talking to Curly, Arnold, and Helga during lunch and now this. Cassandra had gone from Brainy, Arnold, and Helga not completely understanding this stuff. The behavior he was witnessing was probably from the whole spider fiasco that happened. Some people acted weird when traumatized. "Stinky, she's going behind the dumpster with Arnold and Helga." Sid pointed out. He guessed Sid's suspicions were right; Cassandra could definitely be a vampire…or something…along those lines.

He was about to talk to Sid but then saw that Helga and Arnold were going behind the building. Stinky tapped on Sid's shoulder and pointed in the direction that he saw them just go to. "What is he doing? He must be crazy!" Sid said getting up from his spot on the bench. It was obvious they were going to have to be the ones to save their classmates. The dooms that befall them would not be taken lightly and would be punished with lots of garlic.

"What are we going to do Sid?"

"Going to save Arnold and Helga…but first I need to pull out my garlic." Sid said pulling a clove of garlic from his hat.

"She's allergic to lemons…should I bring some lemon pudding?"

"No, it would only serve of a distraction! You would eat it before we got there."

"Gosh dang…I do believe you're a regular mind reader."

Gerald just watched from afar not totally sure if Cassandra should be doing this at school. Sure Helga was a force to be reckoned with when angered but who knew when she was nervous. His eyes wondered over to Phoebe who seemed to be openly enjoying the little spectacle. "My cousin is at it again it seems." Came Iggy's voice from the side making him jump. If people were going to start sneaking up on him they might as well start wearing bells.

"At it again?" Gerald asked making him sound a bit confused but indeed he was a little. "She's also trying to get Rhonda jealous." Iggy responded with an annoyed sigh at the end. Obviously whatever was going on had put Iggy in and awkward position of popularity. "Jealous?" It seemed all Gerald could get out was one word and it seemed to annoy Iggy. "Its mainly for Curly…it think its working…she unleashed Nadine's spider this morning." He said.

Now it all made sense and was clicking into place with all the pieces in tact for solving. It made little sense to him but then again whatever was happening obviously was working. "Mmmm…this whole place has gone crazy since your cousin arrived Iggy." Gerald said. "You don't have to tell me about it." He said looking around the playground for listeners. Iggy spotted Stinky and Sid sneaking and pointed at them. "What is going on?" He asked.

"We should probably stop them before they do anything to interrupt whatever it is." Iggy said.

"Man those two are…did Sid pull garlic from his hat?" Gerald asked sounding perplexed.

"He's under the impressing Cassandra is a vampire." Iggy said sounding like he was going to laugh.

"We should stop them then." Gerald said.

"Yup." Iggy said.


	12. Chapter 12

Cassandra followed Arnold and Helga to the dumpster and ducked behind the trash cans. It was good cover if anyone was watching them and she knew a certain person didn't like it. She didn't want anyone to know she had a big crush on Arnold which made Cassie laugh. When they reached the stinky little enclosure the two just stared away from each other. All this work was going to waist if she had to watch the two just go around doing nothing.

"Uh…hi…"

"Arnold…"

At this exchange of words Cassandra looked at both of them with annoyance in her eyes. Honestly the two couldn't talk about their feelings now of all times and that was crazy. She had tricked Arnold with what her sister had taught her and the other had confessed. Cassandra wanted to knock both of them on the head for making her want to scream. "Is that all you guys can say? I should have stuck to Curly…he's less challenging." She cried.

"Ok, what happened to that confession of yours Helga?" Cassandra asked leaning on a stray trash can. "And Arnold, you're brave! You saved a whole city and came back unharmed." She continued and then paced around the small enclosed space. She was sure she was going to be claustrophobic after this.

"Well…I don't know."

"Actually there was the bus crash…if you can remember and I wasn't completely unscathed…"

They both replied at once which gave her another reason to be annoyed at them right now. She didn't know what to do with these two if they were going to be too difficult for help. "Quiet, just say it before I beat both of you up." Cassandra said and moved away from the trash.

She turned around only to see Sid running over and throwing crumbled garlic at her face. Some of it had landed in her mouth so she was trying to spit it out as she ruffled her hair. It was all over and she doubted she would get the smell out till she got home for a bath. "Does this mean she's not a vampire or what?" Stinky asked. She looked angrily at Sid. "VAMPIRE, Ugh between you two and Helga and Arnold I don't know!" Cassandra said.

Rhonda watched as Cassandra went behind the dumpsters with her two other classmates. This was odd behavior and she honestly didn't know what to think about her at this moment. What did Curly see in this strawberry blond, what was Cassandra doing right now. These thoughts kept plaguing her head when she spotted Sid with some Garlic in hand. He was probably going on about his Vampire problem again and well this was entertaining now.

She watched as the offending girl went to go sit on the bench crossing her arms in annoyance. Rhonda figured this may actually be her chance to see what she saw in the little insane boy. Getting up from her spot on the swings she crossed her arms and started walking toward her slowly. She was about there when Iggy and Gerald rushed past her to see how she was. This meant she would have to wait till they were out of her way to do her plan.

Until then she sat with Nadine who seemed to be looking at her spider in his little cage. It was safe from Rhonda's harsh decision to let it roam free in the other girl's desk. When Sid and Stinky came close she grabbed their arms and pulled them over to her. "Alright boys, we have one goal in common so I'm going to ask you something." She said. The glanced at each other unsure of what she had meant by goal in common but went with it.

Helga looked at Arnold with a blush clear on her face and her heart beating really rather fast. She was about to confess again and the outcome was going to be a little different than last time. "Alright Football head, might as well get on with it before night time." Helga commented. At this Arnold nodded and took a seat on the ground across from Helga to face her. "Sure…" He said, a hit of a blush evidently coming on his face at the moment and a laugh.

"Alright, let's say it wasn't a spur of the moment." Helga said.

"I can deal with that." Arnold responded.

"And let's say I actually felt that way about you." Helga continued.

"Ok."

"Then let's say that in all reality you actually felt the same."

"I might."

"Then again in an alternate reality who's to say I'm the one crazy in love with you. What if in another universe there is an Arnold in love with a Helga somewhere else in the universe?"

"Uh…"

"What if what's happening now is the opposite in that universe and that Helga and Arnold…" She was interrupted.

"Is this supposed to make me change my mind or something?"

"Is it working?"

"No." Arnold said receiving a laugh from Helga who was sitting opposite of him the dumpster. It was a nervous sounding laugh and it made her blush when she heard what he had just said. They started laughing when Cassandra got pelted with garlic and told each other to shush. "What if in that universe the other Helga and Arnold…" Helga didn't finish. "Helga please shut up, your logic isn't working." Arnold said and sat next to her.

They both heard a laugh and looked over to see Brainy staring at both of them cautiously. Obviously he wanted to make sure someone was watching them if Cassandra was gone. "I would punch you but I have a feeling your part of this as well." Helga said standing up. All the got was a shrug and his usual wheezing which made her frown for a second. "Listen Brainy…I want to thank you for keeping my secret as long as you did." Helga said.

"Uh…don't mention it Helga." Brainy said pulling out his inhaler and taking a puff of it. At this point Arnold stood up joining her in thanking the other boy on the opposite side. From behind the trashcans his hand connected with Helga which made Brainy blush. He knew he shouldn't be witnessing this exchange because he himself liked girl next to Arnold. Brainy looked over to Cassandra who was sitting with Gerald and Iggy now.

Cassandra pulled the rest of the garlic from her hair and put it in Iggy's hand with the rest. She was extremely annoyed but knew nothing would become of it right at the moment. For one thing she had to deal with Helga and Arnold and after that it was Curly time for sure. Messing with Rhonda seemed to be really fun and yet it was extremely dangerous to do. Cassandra had to admit that the girl had guts to attack her with a spider like she did.

"Normally this is reserved for Arnold but you are one bold kid." Gerald sounded impressed.

"Yeah I figured that, now can I go see Curly?" Cassandra asked

"Cassandra, are you trying to get yourself killed? How do you know she likes him anyway?" Iggy asked.

"She had Nadine's spider attack me its totally in that action." Cassandra said standing up. She looked from Iggy and Gerald to the playground manly scanning it so she could find Curly. Her eyes set on Phoebe who seemed like she was staring dreamily at Gerald for a second. "You are all really love sick." She said and walked away from the boys as she found him. "Alright, were working on your problem tomorrow." Cassandra said and left.

Later after school was over they all got on the bus and she sat next to Curly who smiled. To be honest he looked rather maniacal when he did so which was probably not good. This was probably the reason that Rhonda didn't want to publicly go out with him or anything. When Nadine got on the bush she was sitting alone and Rhonda sat with Stinky, weird. "She's planning something." Curly said staring at her perplexed expression.

"What is it this time?"

"I don't know."

Shaking her head Cassandra got off the bus when it reached her spot and walked home. She was greeted by the site of Darnell and Tommy who smelled the air as she got closer. Obviously he was smelling her garlic odor that wouldn't leave since recess today. "Yeah I know, stupid boy who thought I was a vampire." She said sounding rather annoyed. She notices Darnell was wearing his shirt that looked like fire which was rare for him.

She motioned for them to come to her house with her and closed the door behind Darnell. Cassandra was greeted by the sight of Jamie-O sitting on the couch with her sister and went upstairs. When they got in her room she had the door open a crack and looked at both boys. "Alright, your curious about this morning." She deduced and they both nodded. "Lets just say I figured it out through a new friend of mine." She said looking at Tommy.

"Course I realized that maybe I was as dense as the guys she liked, they had a bully and victim relationship. I totally figured out her secret and then I figured that if she was acting like that then maybe you were the same." Cassandra said taking her jacket off and sitting on her bed.

Darnell looked at the small exchange that was going on between Cassie and Tommy. At least two of his best friends were getting along and now he didn't have to hide from her. He had to admit for being a little dense the girl knew how to figure things out rather quick. "So…do you like-like me as well or…" Tommy stopped his sentence for a bit. "Sure, but there's something I have to do and I think your going to have to help me." Cassie said.

"And what is that?" Tommy asked.

"Well, lets just say I have a fake boyfriend and were trying to get his crush jealous." Cassandra said smiling.

"I don't think I like this." Darnell said.

"Alright, tomorrow after school should be a baseball game, your both coming." Cassandra said.

"Why do we have to go?" Tommy asked.

"Well…"

After she explained the plan to both of them they left since it was almost dinner time. Cassandra went down stairs and sat in the living room staring at her sister and Jamie-O. They obviously felt her staring and he got up off the couch after realizing what time it was. "Well, I think it's time I go, my little sister will tell on me if I'm later." He said. He kneeled down in front of Cassandra and ruffled her hair knowing it made her mad at him.

"Oh, Jamie-O, tell Gerald I'm going to the game."

"Will do, so are you guys like an item now or…"

"No, he like-likes someone else and I like-like someone else." She said pushing him to the door.

"Cassie, please stop pushing him out of the door." Hanna said laughing.


	13. Chapter 13

Cassandra stood at the bus stop as her sister for some reason decided to tag along this time. It was a big mistake to tell her about a spoiled rich girl putting a huge spider in her desk. It seemed to be all Hanna got out of the how was your day at school conversation yesterday. There were much better things to focus on then that little situation so who cared. Apparently her big sister did which was annoying. "Cant you just drive to school?" She had asked. "I hate you." Cassandra said sitting down against the sign that read bus stop. "I love you to." Hanna said not really listening to her little sister.

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!"

"Yes I am."

"I swear I will bite your fingers off one by one if you don't go."

"You're too much of a germaphobe to do that."

"I hate you."

At this exchange the two boys that just walked up to the bus stop stared at the two girls. Obviously the exchange was a little amusing and they didn't know what to think. "Hey Hanna." Gerald said when he was right beside Cassandra with Arnold on the other side of her. "Hey Gerald, how are you doing?" Hanna asked sweetly which annoyed her little sister a little. "Ugh…go make-out with Jamie-O!" She said as she pushed her away from the bus stop. "Oh come on sis, I deserve to know who thought of such a great prank! Spiders and garlic." Hanna said sounding like she was pleading.

Head in hand Cassandra sat on the ground in utter annoyance and thought of other places to be. She could have easily gone a few blocks away so she could talk to Tommy but then she would be late. Noticing this Arnold sat next to her with an amused expression making her glare. If she had to deal with her sister at the moment she at least had to see if he was with Helga. She had quit paying attention to them after Sid had thrown garlic in her face and all that excitement. "Did you and Helga talk or am I going to have to do another thing resulting in others thinking I'm a werewolf." She joked.

"We talked."

"And…"

"I guess we're together."

"You guess…YOU GUESS? Ugh crazy Football Head…"

"Only Helga calls me that."

Cassandra pointed a finger at him and then looked away from him since she was a little cheesed off. Everyone was so confusing and it was grating on her nerves and her sister wasn't listening. In this kind of situation Jamie-O was a good listener but only if you wanted to play fowl. Oh yes she learned from the best when it came to what she was helping Curly out with. She didn't like the guy but he was rubbing off on her which annoyed her sister to death sometimes. "YO HANNA!" A familiar voice rang making Cassandra turn to see Jamie-O stopping the car at the sidewalk when he saw them.

"I was just about to ask your little sister where you were before I spotted you, what are you doing here?"

"I'm going to supervise…Cassandra got spider in her desk thanks to some spoiled brat."

"DOESN'T ANYBODY LISTEN! I can take care of myself!" Cassandra yelled to where everyone could hear her.

"Wow! So what happened to make the rich girl do it?" He asked seeming interested.

"Oh, I'm only trying to help a friend of mine make her jealous. He likes her and she's not good at hiding that she likes him." She responded.

"Sounds like fun, bet I can help you out. Get in the car guys, me and Cassie have business to discuss."

"Don't encourage her…no don't get in the…oh who cares, they wont listen to me." Hanna whined.

They all piled in the car with Cassandra sitting in the passenger seat and Hanna in the back. They were talking about her plan to make some girl that liked some boy confess to him. To be perfectly honest Hanna didn't like this plan if it involved getting another freak spider sighting. Her sister was brave, she had to give her that but still it was just to risky. To make matters worse her boyfriend was encouraging this and not stopping Cassie from doing this. Gerald listened to how Arnold had to agree with Hanna about Cassandra and her evil plan as it were. She was insane.


	14. Chapter 14

Hanna sat in the back of the car with Jamie-O's brother on one side and his friend on the other. She didn't appreciate that her sister was taking advise from the one guy she didn't get along with. "Are you and Jamie-O friends?" The football headed boy beside her asked and she sighed. They weren't just friends, not anymore at least because they started dating two years ago. She honestly didn't know why she liked him all that much, he was a jerk to his little brother. It was true what they said though…opposites truly did attract and she was really crazy. "She's his girlfriend." Gerald said smiling.

"I keep him in line when he's being the biggest jerk around." Hanna said looking into the rearview mirror.

"I heard that, you don't think I'm a jerk do you Cassie?" Jamie-O asked.

There was no answer Cassandra just stared at him for a few minutes and stayed perfectly quiet. It wasn't that she didn't know what to say or anything he was indeed a great big jerk in her books. Course if she told him that he probably wouldn't help her out with the plan she had thought of. What she had to do was kiss butt and wait till she was done using his little brain. "No, he's the best." She said giving her sister one of her fake smiles her sister knew all to well. At that comment Gerald started to laugh and obviously couldn't stop because he started snorting like a pig. He didn't believe the lie either.

"Now Cass, obviously this Curly isn't one to play cool am I right?" Jamie-O asked.

"Most assuredly, he's more insane then anything." Cassandra said.

"Yo, Hanna remember that bug eyed kid back in…fifth grade?" Jamie-O said looking in his mirror.

"You mean Samuel Peters, what about him?" Hanna said sounding board.

"Well…" Jamie-O stopped the car at P.S. 118 and locked the doors before the three could get out. "James Oliver Johanson…" She didn't finish because her sister got that interested look coming. "Isn't that the guy you dated for a month?" Cassandra asked trying to think about it for a sec. There was an almost invisible nod coming from Hanna who was annoyed. She was seriously going to kill Jamie-O before the day was out and make sure to get rid of evidence. It was all in the stare and to tell the truth Jamie-O kind of liked her go to hell look he was getting. He watched as the wheels turned in Cass.

Gerald and Arnold were a little confused as to what was going on but were glad they were early. That meant they had a while before school would start because the busses weren't there. It was at that point that Gerald figured they were going to be stuck here till this was all done with. His brother was the master at dating girls and if Cassandra wanted his really crazy advise so be it. "No…she was trying to make me jealous." Jamie-O confessed before he decided to unlock the car. Arnold gladly got out when he spotted Helga walking with Phoebe just down the block from the school.

"You see Cassandra, she pulled a Jamie-O, Sam was in on it…he gladly excepted since he had to make someone Jealous to. The only advise I have for you is to be careful not to over step. Ease into it course these are fourth graders so there is bound to be revenge." Jamie-O explained.

Arnold walked slowly behind Helga as she gushed to Phoebe about a certain someone. She was still talking when he was directly behind her and scared her making her scream. "Football Head! What the heck was that about?" Helga screamed with a slight smile. Phoebe gave a chuckle and stopped when she spotted Gerald coming and she blushed. "Hey Phoebe, how's your morning so far." Gerald asked and took her hand walking away. Helga looked on in astonishment. She was surprised, befuddled, confused, astounded, flabbergasted even, she didn't know what the heck was going on.

-Last night-

Gerald looked at the phone sitting on the table and contemplated doing what he was going to. He didn't know if he should or not, he didn't want to face her the next day if it went wrong. Another thing he was afraid of is that if he did this he and it went wrong Helga would get him. All attention towards the phone was gone when his little sister came in smiling like crazy. "What're you doing Gerald?" Timberly asked in her annoyingly curious fashion that was maddening. "Nothing Timberly…go play with your dolls or something overly girly." He said going back to staring at the phone quietly.

"If your going to call her just do it." Jamie-O's voice startled him.

"What are you talking about?" Gerald countered.

"Come on! You don't do this when your about to call Arnold so it must be a girl." Jamie-O sounded amused.

Timberly went wide eyed and looked at both her brothers. "GERALD'S GOT A CRUSH!~" She started singing.

Jamie-O rolled his eyes and scooted his sister to her bedroom and closed the door. He was trying to talk seriously to his brother and his little sister was trying to be really funny. There were few times when he was ever really brotherly to Gerald and it wouldn't be ruined like this. Walking back to the living room he grabbed the phone and looked at Gerald. "I can tell you right now that just staring at a phone doesn't work." Jamie-O said.

"Call her, tell her you really like her and let it go from there.

-Present-

Rhonda got off the bus and was instantly greeted by the sight of Arnold and Helga holing hands. She felt like she was going to have a heart attack and didn't know what was going on. Things were definitely out of whack and it might have had something to do with Cassandra of course. This was not how it was supposed to be, they were supposed to hate each other like usual. She stalked out towards Cassandra and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Oh hey Rhonda, how are you this fine morning?" Cassandra said casually. "What are you getting at Cassandra Fletcher?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Arnold and Helga! Phoebe and Gerald! Curly at your feet!"

"What? Oh Helga and Arnold are finally together? He didn't tell me. Finally I thought I was going to…"

"Is that all you got out of this conversation Cassandra Fletcher?"

"Yes…I mean no…stop saying my last name please its getting on my nerves."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and walked away as soon as she spotted Curly waving at her. He was doing his best to ignore the cries of Rhonda from the looks of it and doing a great job. Honestly she didn't think he could hold back like he said he would do and control it. "She's cracking." Cassandra said making the boy smile with delight jump for joy suddenly. "Yes! By tomorrow she will be mine…MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Curly said crazily. "I would calm that down." She said.


	15. Chapter 15

Rhonda stared at Curly as he and Cassandra talked about something possibly lovely in really low voices. Oh how she would give anything to hear him whisper sweet nothings in her perfect little ears. A nice kiss on the cheek and this time she wouldn't freak out and call him a gross guy. Maybe if she actually tried to be nice to him then maybe he wouldn't have run into her grubby arms. "You ok Rhonda?" Stinky asked. Ever since Iggy's cousin got here she had been acting strange. "Tell me Stinky…have you ever been in love?" Rhonda asked in a whisper. He stared at her for a minute.

"Once but it turned out to be heartburn on a count of too much Yahoo Soda."

There was a moment of silence as she contemplated on what to say to that remark. Was he even taking her seriously when she asked that or was he laughing at her? "Ugh! Do you have the lemon pudding?" She asked as she watched the two interact with each other.

"I ate half of it so Stinky took the rest."

"Oh well we can get some at lunch…"

"What if she's deathly allergic?"

"Yeah what if she's deathly allergic to lemons…we could kill her."

"You didn't think like that when you threw garlic at her!" Rhonda bellowed.

That much was true and honestly Sid didn't want to think about the really stupid incident now. All he wanted to do was going over and apologize and Stinky of course would follow his lead. The problem was that Rhonda was being strange since Cassandra started hanging around Curly. It was like she had gone over to the dark side and wouldn't leave till she got her desires. "I'm just going to go over there…with Iggy." Sid said hesitantly and left with the taller boy. He had to get away from Rhonda before he caught her madness and suddenly went crazy on everyone. The madness had to stop.

-P.S. 117-

Darnell sat at his desk thinking about what was said at Cassandra's last night about the game. If this Rhonda girl was serious about people messing with her man then Cass was in deep crap. Course telling her she was in deep crap wasn't like telling her she needed to pick up gross things. It was extremely funny listening to her yell for germ-ex nonstop but the other was hard to watch. He couldn't quite help himself when he thought about the conversation they had last night. Tommy was totally up for it but honestly all Darnell was going to do was hang out with Gerald and Shay Ling the whole time.

Flashback…

"Darnell you don't have to do anything if you don't want to…you're the sensible one." Cassandra said smiling. "Let me hear this before I say I want out Cass." Darnell sounded board. "Well, one of you goes up to Rhonda Wellington Lloyd and says boy Cassandra and that other kid sure make a good couple." She said thoughtfully. "I'm out." Darnell said instantly not wanting to hear the rest. "Count me in Cassandra…I mean your plans usually come out on top." Tommy uttered making Cassandra hug him instantly and shake Darnell's hand saying that went just like she planned it.

End Flashback…

"Someone looks a little grumpy." Came Shay's voice as she sat next to him with one of her smiles. He looked at her as soon as his thoughts left and gave her a smile before answering. He told her that her best friend had this oh so brilliant plan that she was planning on executing later. There were a few nods as she listened to him complain about the whole thing till Tommy showed. He was a big fan of the plan; he always liked seeing someone blow up and thought it was fun. He was starting to wonder about his friend's sanity but then wondered about Cassandra's as well which led to Shay's then his.

He just put it all back and called himself and the others insane for dealing with this stuff. They were all insane and by the time they turned forty they would all end up as mental patients somewhere. Of that Darnell felt certain of and didn't feel like thinking of anything else at the moment.

-P.S. 118-

It was getting close to lunch time and as usual Mr. Simmons was being good naturedly. It made Cassandra smile because it did feel like a normal day course it would change. Yes, after today Curly was going to be going out with the girl he desired most thanks to her vision. If Tommy played his cards right Rhonda would freak and tell the crazy insane boy her feelings. It was all according to plan unless something happened to totally screw it up which she hoped not. She avoided Rhonda's glares as she sat in her seat doodling in her journal quietly and slowly.

There was a slight snicker coming from Helga's direction making her look over to her instantly. She mouthed a what and made Helga laugh some more causing Arnold to look back to her. "Jeez! If looks could kill you would be dead soon." Came her whisper making Cassandra smile. "You really made Princess mad Cassandra, when will it end?" Helga asked smirking crazily. She loved how Cassandra's plan was totally working and hoped it would work out. "It won't end till they are together which will be tonight." She whispered and received a head shake from Gerald who looked amused.

"You just wait and see Gerald Johansson…things will be way awesome.

"Incase you forgot my brother is an idiot when it comes to girl."

"Apparently not with my sister…although I would prefer if it were someone else she like-liked."

"You saying my brother isn't good enough for her?"

"Now you're turning the conversation around Gerald that's not what you said earlier."

Helga and Arnold watched as the two talked about this back and fourth and Phoebe shook her head. This was a spectacle she didn't want to get involved in so she tried keeping out of it as best she could. It was hard considering Gerald instantly asked her to step into the conversation making her sigh. She didn't want to get involved but they were being total numbskulls at the moment. "Honestly Gerald, she's right and your right so let's all just be quiet and do our work." She said. That received a laugh from her best friend and a chuckle from Arnold who patted Gerald on the shoulder.

As soon as Lunch Time came around the corner Rhonda, Stinky and Sid went in line. She was on a mission to get some pudding and throw it in the other girls annoying face. It didn't help that Helga was standing beside her taunting her with every little words to annoy Rhonda. Usually she was happy when Helga called her Princess because she instantly felt important. Right now it just seemed wrong and she wanted to throw some pudding at Helga for even talking. "Listen Helga, normally I'm a very patient person but today I'm a little on edge and your acting really strange lately." Rhonda yelled.

That sentence just earned a stare that told her Helga had not idea what she was talking about. Rhonda grabbed as much pudding she felt she needed and left the line before Helga said more. Helga on the other hand was wondering if the other girl paid attention to the pudding portion. Sid was even grabbing a lot which was totally unlike him but didn't question his motives. When she sat at the table with Gerald and Arnold the lunchroom suddenly got quiet and annoying. "QUIT GAWKING AND GET BACK TO EATING YOUR FOOD!" Helga yelled making everyone continue.

Cassandra suddenly burst out laughing which caused Gerald to squirt milk out his nose. She hadn't expected Helga to yell like that but gosh she wished she had it on camera. Course now she wished she had something to catch what had just happened with Gerald. It made her laugh harder which in turn made it hard to breathe so she snorted and laughed. She finally stopped when she felt something be poured onto her hear and looked up to see Rhonda.

To Helga it all became clear as to why they all grabbed extra helpings of pudding making her mad. She was about to react when Cassandra just shrugged it off and started laughing really hard again. Rhonda and Sid looked wide eyed and were beginning to question Stinky's information. At that moment all Cassandra was thinking was that they had fallen for her so called allergy. It was merely a ploy because she didn't want to have to deal with Stinky and his dumb question. Gerald and the others at the table just stared at her with all the pudding covering the upper half of her body.

"Well golly…she's not deathly allergic after all." Stinky said wondrously.

"Stinky! I thought you said she was allergic!" Rhonda yelled.

"Ok…this is weird…" Was all Sid could say at the moment.

This was not what Cassandra had expected her day to be like but she loved it suddenly. All this crazy girl over head wanted was for Curly to look at her like he did back before. "Rule one of going to a new school! Always lie to kids about your allergies." Cassandra said quietly. She had calmed down a little and was trying not to yell for germ-ex like a crazy person would. In truth she wasn't allergic to anything and of course she wasn't expecting this to happen at all. It was funny but she was going to have a serious bath when she got home from school today for sure.

"What did you guys do to Cassandra?" Came Iggy's angry voice as he got closer.

"Rhonda tripped causing a domino effect thus pudding on my face." Cassandra said.

"Somehow I doubt that story Cassie." Iggy said folding his arms.

"You're all idiots! She's gotten into your brains and made a nest!" Rhonda babbled.

"Man…that girl has lost it…Your insane too Cassandra." Gerald replied.

Nadine shook her head and took Rhonda to the nurse for some apparently much needed rest. Attacking Cassandra wasn't going to solve Rhonda's little love problem and she knew it. They walked past Lila who seemed all the more concerned and went to see about the other girl. She hadn't had a chance to talk to Cassandra yet because she was always around Helga sometimes.

No, this wasn't a bad thing it was just that it had been a while since there was a new student. "Whatever happened to her?" Lila asked as she took a seat next to Helga who couldn't stop laughing for some reason. "Rhonda did…she thought I was allergic to lemons." Cassandra said laughing again.

The more she thought about it the more the situation seemed funnier than it had been before. What she really needed to do was clean herself off because she felt like screaming for germ-ex.

Finally after Cassandra got cleaned up and clothes changed she went out for some recess time. She caught sight of Curly who was sprawled out on the ground mumbling about something. At that moment she figured he wasn't really paying attention so she sat down quietly and watched. She had to admit that his insane moments were fun to watch and made her laugh off the wall. "I see you Cassandra…" He said in a sing song voice, opened his eyes and sat up real quick. "So what's your next plan?" He said. Obviously he had been working on his calm since he didn't come to her aid earlier at lunch.

"We strike next at the game tonight." Cassandra said looking around to see about any listeners. She didn't need any of Rhonda's people telling her that she was trying to get her to tell her feelings. Looking on she saw how Sheena was staring at Eugene and instantly smiled for some reason. Ugh…all this crazy love stuff was starting to get to her and she instantly wanted people together. Course Sheena was a little strange and Eugene was a total accident prone person. They would be total polar opposites which probably wouldn't last very long but it wouldn't hurt to get them together.

"Do you think Sheena and Eugene would make a good couple?" She asked suddenly.

"Totally…while you're at it Nadine is totally into Peapod Kid." Curly suggested.

"What about Stinky? He feels like a wildcard." She mused and leaned against the building. She was content just talking to Curly about who should be with whom till tonight. It was going to be fun when Rhonda suddenly confesses her feelings to Curly all of the sudden. She laughed at the thought.

Iggy watched as the madness went on and Cassandra started planning her next couple move. He wasn't a big fan of this and since it got her pudding to the head it had to stop soon. He wasn't going to have his cousin in the nurse's office later because Rhonda pulled something. The madness had to stop or things were going to be out of hand sooner or later. Normally he would talk to the voice of reason but he was currently holding hands with Helga.

Hold it! Did he just see Helga and Arnold holding hands, jeez Cassandra was pretty good. He saw Gerald walk his way and he instantly sat on the swings waiting for him to sit next to him. "Please tell me I've gone insane." He said in a whisper so only Gerald could hear. "Your cousin isn't half bad, she's tamed Helga and calmed Curly down to where he's not obsessed with Rhonda." He said. "Yeah but it's causing chaos all the sudden." He said.

"We'll have to watch out for those…see what happens at the baseball game later." Gerald said and Iggy nodded in return.

-Later-

Cassandra was livid, she couldn't get Helga away from Hanna at all and it was really annoying. They kept on talking about wrestling and boys, saying how clueless they were and all that. That was the only thing she could really agree with but she wished Helga would stop yapping soon. She wanted to get down to the field before Rhonda at least stepped foot inside the stupid field. When a knock sounded at the door and she opened it since she was already there. Gerald strode in with that look that said he was cool and if anyone had anything to say about it who cares. It was really fitting.

"Yo! Helga, your making Arnold wait." He said in an annoyed voice that he only reserved for Helga. This statement received a glare from her and he was beginning to look a little worried. Cassandra guessed it was merely a girl thing, making your boyfriend wait while you talked. Honestly she saw no point in it and got annoyed with her sister purposely did it to Jamie-O for fun. It was funny to see him get flustered when he waited but when he started to nag! Jamie-O was a nice guy when you knew him deep down but when he got impatient he wasn't fun to be around. Always complaining about it.

"Listen up Geraldo; I'm busy talking to Hanna so tell Football Head to keep waiting." She said back. It was at this point Cassandra shook her head and went out the door to escape the madness. Arnold was sitting on the steps looking out toward the street as people walked by rather slowly. "Talking gets so annoying when you don't stop." Cassandra complained to him as she sat down. All she received was a laugh but knew he agreed with her on that lovely statement. Arnold would never say it though because he was a decent guy unlike a few she could actually name.

Five minutes later they were finally done talking and headed toward the small lot called Gerald Field. Cassandra spotted Tommy and Darnell and ran over to them ready to start the plan. While Cassandra ran off Helga rolled her eyes and stood in front of the two she was walking with. She had a point to make and the look on his face would be so priceless it was almost funny for a second. "Hey Arnoldo, isn't Arnie coming tomorrow?" Her inquisitive tone was in her voice. "I guess…why?" Arnold asked apparently not getting it which reminded Helga as to why she liked him obvious reasons aside.

It seemed Gerald wasn't really getting it either but she honestly didn't care because it was so funny. "Arnie is a little crazy; the lint collection alone would be enough to set Cassandra off." She said. Eyes wide Gerald and Arnold looked at each other in what seemed to be utter horror. Obviously none of them had thought of that which made her want to laugh but she held it in best she could. "Maybe she doesn't consider lint germy?" Arnold said with a slight shrug on his shoulders. "Crimany! She freaked out with Abner and he's as clean as a prom dress on Sunday!" Helga burst out all of the sudden.

Normally Arnold would ask her how she knew about that but since FTI he learned not to ask. He just nodded and Gerald went wide eyed and for some reason started laughing for no reason. "I see why you hang around him Arnold; it's a regular dumb and dumber convention." She sighed. At this she received a glare from Gerald who seemed very annoyed at the moment. "Man! Why Arnold, why?" He asked in a rather serious tone receiving a laugh from his friend. Arnold was mildly entertained that his best friend and his girlfriend were fighting about something so dumb.

-With Curly-

He was sitting on the dumpster across from Gerald Field waiting for his great grand entrance. When Rhonda comes down the corner he will skip joyfully over to Cassandra and kiss her cheek. It wasn't as lovely as his princess's cheek but it would have to make due till then he guessed. Her lovely raven black hair would sway in jealousy and her hip kinked to one side in annoyance. He was drooling with envy just thinking about her voice yelling at him for just talking to her. Continuing these thoughts would surely kill him if he didn't stop so he smacked himself in the head. "Ouch!" He cried.

It was at that moment Arnold passed by holding Helga's hand and they stopped to look around. Obviously he was making to much noise and had attracted the attention of his two classmates. "Sitting in an ally, Curly are you stalking Cassandra now?" Helga asked obviously entertained. The look on his face was one of pure surprise because he wasn't expecting this to happen at all. He was hoping that he would remain invisible till Rhonda got here and then spring out. "YOU RUINED MY SURPRISE! BE GONE OR I WILL EAT YOUR HAND!" Curly screamed as Helga rolled her eyes.

"Football Head, go sit your butt down at Gerald Field so I can talk to Curly."

"What are you going to do?" Arnold asked curiously.

"One of my many talks, we are alike in many ways Arnoldo."

Arnold did as Helga said although unwillingly and took his leave to sit with Gerald and Cassandra. When they were in the clear Helga took a seat next to the seemingly crazy wild eyed boy. She knew Curly had an obsession like her only he acted on it and made his crushes life a little crazy. Honestly she was glad she wasn't as obsessed as he was because that would be a little strange. "So you're going after Cassandra now huh?" She asked making the other boy laugh a little. "Are you insane? She's helping me Helga…Its working to because Rhonda…" He didn't finish because Helga held up her hand.

"So that's what the spider was about? And the pudding? Course the garlic didn't make sense…" Helga thought out loud.

"That was just Sid acting on his own, he thought she was a vampire and Rhonda was indeed jealous."

At this information Helga just laughed and left the ally after thanking him for the information. Sometimes Sid was just too funny for words and what he spouted about vampires made no sense. When she got to Gerald field she spotted Rhonda but for some reason started laughing up a storm. Normally she composed herself but Rhonda was just so funny for words now it seemed. She just couldn't help but laugh and Cassandra was starting to wonder what was wrong with her. "Darnell, I think she's got the crazy bones…she's gone a little insane." Cassandra said as Darnell got closer to them.

"Alright, let's just get the game started!" Rhonda said just as Helga caught her breath to breathe. It was then that Cassandra fell to the ground because it seemed Curly decided to hug her. It was at that point that Tommy was about to say what he had apparently rehearsed yesterday. Rhonda looked his way and gave him a glare before deciding to speak to anyone about anything. "Let's get this stupid game started before I lose my temper." She said and gave Helga her mask. "And don't even breathe a word Helga; I know I already lost my temper." She continued as the fifth graders got there just in time.

-Later-

Tommy was sitting between and old lady and Darnell seeming utterly board out of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't like baseball or anything it was just that things weren't getting done. That Rhonda chick wasn't confessing that she like-liked that Curly boy and he understood why. Cassandra just kept right on badmouthing the fifth graders as they tried to hit the stupid ball. There were so many things wrong around him that he wanted to scream and tell the old lady to shut up. She kept yelling for some guy named Kimba to go up and bat which was starting to annoy him.

"Now Pookie, please calm down." The old man said calmly and put his hand on the woman's shoulder. "Go Kimba! SIS BOOM BA! Kick em' in the shins!" The old woman yelled wearing a cheerleading outfit. "Am I the only one who thinks this lady is a mental patient?" Tommy whispered in an annoyed tone to Darnell. "That's Arnold's grandmother." Darnell said keeping his eye on the game. "Who the heck is Kimba?" He asked. "That's what she calls Arnold." When the game was over Cassandra went to Curly and hugged him. This signaled to Tommy that it was time to make his move to the girl named Rhonda. She looked like she wanted to tear her head off which to Tommy signaled that he better be careful with his words.

"Hi…"

"Who are you?"

"Names Tommy."

"Rhonda Wellington Lloyd."

"Mouthful."

"Excuse me…I have to leave." Rhonda said and then stalked towards Curly grabbing him by the collar. She dragged him over to the wall and instantly began talking to him quietly and fast. It was getting to hard to read her lips with the speed they were going but he guessed a confession. Apparently the plan Cassandra had been working which was a rarity in its own really. Cassandra smiled at over to Tommy and he did the same.

-With Rhonda and Curly-

"We have to talk."

"What is it Rhonda, I have a date."

"Oh come off it Curly! You're only doing this to make me jealous."

"I think you've lost it…I like Cassandra now."

It hurt him so much to lie to her face but it had to be done in order to get her to confess to him her love. He wanted so much to take her in his arms and tell her that he was just messing around. He knew he couldn't other wise the whole thing would be ruined and he would be stuck. He didn't want to chase her anymore; he had had enough of it and wanted to stop the madness he created. "Please tell me you're joking." Rhonda said looking into his glasses covered eyes. She wished she knew what he was thinking right now and who he was thinking about. "I'm afraid I'm not Rhonda." He said.

He had no time to see what her reaction when he was suddenly slapped in the face. "You're lying." She said as calmly as she could before being pulled down into a kiss. When he pulled away Rhonda suddenly felt weak in the knees and didn't know what to say to him. She was just glad that this stupid obsession with Cassandra was over with and done. "I could have been…why, were you jealous Rhonda?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"You idiot! Of course I was jealous Thaddeus…you constantly paid attention to me…I missed that!" She yelled.

"Is that all you can think about Rhonda? Someone stops paying attention to you and it's the end of the world?" Curly asked.

"Jeez she's more clueless than Arnold…no offence Football Head." Cassandra said.

"None taken I guess." Arnold said almost taking offence but knew she had a point.

Cassandra walked over to the two but was stopped by Iggy who put his hand on her shoulder. She gave him one of her annoyed looks that told him she knew what she was doing. As hesitant as he was he didn't want to deal with his cousin mad at him so he let her do what she wanted. "Obviously you're very dense and I'm guessing it has something to do with being rich." She said. Helga smacked her head almost embarrassed about what was said to Rhonda. Standing up to Rhonda was all well and good but bringing up that being rich made her dense was dumb.

"You're a pain in my butt Cassandra Fletcher. I'm not dense, I've liked Curly but I was just afraid of…" Rhonda didn't finish.

"Bla, bla, bla! I've heard it all before…I'm going home." Cassandra said before leaving the field. She was just glad that Curly got what he had wanted finally and it was over with. Tommy and Darnell followed as soon as Darnell was done shaking hands with Gerald and Arnold. She needed to go home and sleep today off but before that take a shower and get pudding out. "That was fun, don't you think?" She asked. "You're strange." Tommy laughed.


	16. Chapter 16

he next morning Cassandra got up and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast as per usual. A few yawns were tossed from her mouth as she dumped the cereal into a bowl with milk. "There's my little girl." Her fathers voice came as he came from down stairs all ready for work. I waved to him and took a bite and grabbed a napkin before milk decided to spill on my chin. "Morning." She said as he sat down putting the news paper in front of him on the table to read. Obviously he had already eaten breakfast since he gets up an hour earlier than her to be ready.

"You didn't tell me how your game went, you seemed to tired after dinner." Her dad asked. When she finished another bite she put the bowl next to the sink and sat next to him quietly. "It was good, kicked the fifth graders butts and earlier I got pudding thrown on me." She said. At that she received this look that she could only describe as the really concerned father look. He knew she was a germaphobe and he knew the tiniest amount of anything dirty set her off. "So, your sister wasn't lying then. Cassandra, this girl is going a little to far…maybe we should transfer you back." He said.

"Actually I made quite a few friends, those other times were mainly my fault."

"How so?"

"I was helping this boy make a girl jealous…it was so fun."

"Cassandra, your as insane as your mother was at your age."

Laughter roared through the kitchen as Hanna came down with her backpack on ready to go. She told her sister it was time to go when the clock showed seven thirty and they walked. Cassandra preferred riding the bus since she wanted to talk to Iggy and Brainy before school. "I don't know why you keep bothering me." She said to her sister who was walking with her. "Do we have to go though this every day?" Hanna asked seemingly getting annoyed with her. "Well…its either that or we talk about your escapades to mom and dad of all people." Cassandra loving what she had on her sister.

"That's a big word…fourth graders don't use and know big words."

"Hey I'm a pushover for dictionaries, thanks by the way for that dictionary last year."

"I'm beginning to regret it."

"Oh jeez, I think its just keen big sister whom I love."

"Now your just being sarcastic, so did your plan work?"

"It almost blew up in my face, they are totally together"

Hanna sighed in relief and left before they got to the bus stop and hopped in the car with Jamie-O. It was at this point that Cassandra took her leave and at the bus stop waiting. When Gerald and Arnold was rounding the corner she was beginning to think she was seeing double. There was Arnold but there was another football headed boy walking beside him as well right now. Cassandra rubbed her eyes and when that didn't work she decided to wait and see if it vanished. Miraculously the Arnold look a like stayed there and now he looked a little different making her sigh in utter relief.

"Cassandra, you ok?" Gerald asked sounding like he was concerned at her actions, and he was. Mind you he didn't know she was having a mini panic attack about her vision earlier. "I'm good…Arnold, you didn't tell me you had a twin." Cassandra exclaimed almost excitedly now. Gerald shook his head and almost laughed at the thought of his best friend having a twin. Although that thought might not be far off because they do almost look alike in a certain way. "He's my cousin, his names Arnie." Arnold spoke sounding a little amused at the thought as well it seemed. "Hi." He said and sniffed.

"Hi Arnie. Names Cassandra." Cassandra held out her hand for Arnie to shake but saw the bus. She was going to have to introduce herself to Arnie later when she had a chance to do so. It seemed both boy had a hesitant look on their faces making her all the more curious for some reason. As she had been told before Curiosity killed the cat but of course satisfaction revived it. Maybe when she figured out their little hesitation things would be in the clear and it wasn't that bad. Then again her luck was never that good, great now she was nervous and she hated that fact.


	17. Chapter 17

Cassandra sat next to Helga who for some reason didn't want to sit next to Arnold since Arnie came. In fact she noticed that everyone was giving Arnie sideways glances which were annoying. "So…mind telling me what's up?" She started and Eugene just gave her an almost surprised look. "You didn't tell her Helga? She has a right to know seeing as she's a germaphobe." Eugene said. All he received in return was a glare from Helga and then she looked at Cassandra. "He's weirder than Curly, has a lint collection…he's a little strange." Helga said and Cassandra sat back in the seat.

Why was everyone at this school so abnormal and stranger than a two headed turtle on wheels? "Thanks for that lovely information." Cassandra said sarcastically and sighed in utter defeat. Now she didn't know how she was going to get through the day if he was really that insane. There people went again calling Curly insane when he was just your normal fourth grader. He had minor problems with ADHD and he might have been really close to being addicted to Sugar. That was how she figured it at least and honestly she didn't want to bother with asking him anything.

"Just thought you should be warned…you did freak out about Arnold's pig." Helga said.

"Huh…I did? Oh…wait a minute you were spying!" Cassandra said.

"I though you were going to tell Arnold who lets face is already knew." Helga replied.

Cassandra just rolled her eyes and turned to face Eugene who had his face in a doggy bag now. She guessed he had really bad motion sickness and scooted closer to Helga in the progress. "Who in their right mind would own a pig in the city anyway? Unethical." Cassandra said. Helga ignored the question and went back to thinking how the day was going to pan out exactly. The girl next to her wasn't exactly calm, cool and collected when it came to all things germy. In fact, she was going to have to watch out if she didn't want Cassandra freaking out today.

At lunch time Cassandra seemed to be holding up except that Arnie was off in the head a little. The whole sniffing after he talks or before he talks was grating on her last nerves a little. The boy had this little lint collection that he tried to show her at least three hundred times today. "Please tell me there are normal people in your family Arnold." Cassandra asked exasperatedly. She didn't know how many other Arnold like people she could handle in the next week. There was only one thing that she figured out and it was that Lila had an enormous crush on him big time.

"What does she see in him…he's weird." Cassandra stated.

"So is Curly, don't tell me your playing matchmaker again." Helga said.

"Curly's not weird, just misunderstood." Cassandra argued.

"And I'm the tooth fairy…just go do your magic." Helga said.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Lila who was busy talking to Rhonda. She waited five minutes but the conversation was still going on so she smacked the table hard. That seemed to be her favorite thing to do because it got everyone's attention all the time. "Oh Cassandra, whatever do you need?" Lila asked almost making Cassandra laugh up a storm. She found how Lila spoke to be amusing but tried to hide it since Arnold was the resident do-gooder. "Well, I was just wondering if you…have a crush on Arnie." Cassandra spat out quickly.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Lila spat out rather nervous sounding to Cassandra's ears. Oh the sweet voice of someone who didn't know you knew that they liked the weirdo boy. It was times like these that made her want to be a mad scientist and mess with everyone. Unfortunately she wasn't that evil and she wanted to be friends with everyone that was present. "Oh don't; whatever do you mean me Lila whatever your last name is." Cassandra said sounding frustrated. "You like the insane boy with the lint collection and Helga and I know it." Cassandra said.

She needed to lower it down a notch, she was sounding accusatory and she was losing her mind. "Please tell me you've taken something to make you go insane." Rhonda said rather quietly. Rhonda didn't want to be part of the conversation and she certainly didn't want to be loud either. It was obvious that she was still mad at Cassandra for unraveling that she liked Curly Gamelthorp. "Jeez princess…who was up your butt?" Cassandra asked and Lila shook her head. "Shut up Fletcher, your worse than Helga." Rhonda said ignoring Lila's pleas for everyone to stop fighting.

"Ugh…go sit in your rich kitchen and drink expensive tea from France!" Cassandra yelled. Without another word she went to sit at the same table Arnie was and took a deep breath. If she was going to do this she had to go to the idiot who really creeped her out at the moment. Cassandra wasn't going to get anything from Lila besides a few annoying sentences of blah. "Alright Arnie, you like Lila and Lila likes you so why not put your linty lips on hers and kiss." she said. He just looked at her for a few minutes and sniffed his annoying sniff and blinked in annoying blink.

"GET UP AND TELL LILA YOU LIKE HER IDIOT!" Cassandra yelled gaining everyone's attention.

"Arnie…is this ever so true?" Lila asked.

"Who taught this girl to talk…" Cassandra thought

After school everyone got on the bus so they could go to their respective places and homes. Cassandra was tired but she sat on the couch waiting for dinner to be done by her mom. Her sister sat next to her watching some stupid love movie that she couldn't remember the name of. All in all she was happy with the school she was transferred to except for the germs. She could do without the germs…they were evil.


End file.
